Birthright
by krashkart
Summary: Years ago Rommie and Dylan made a promise to a pair of new parents. It's time for them to keep that promise... if the Commonwealth will allow it. A Detour universe story
1. Peace Pt1

_A/N- 1 I want to give special thanks to illex and katarite for their help with Attack. I'd still be working on the chapter if they hadn't straightened me out _

_A/N-2 This is an old story I took down for re-wwiting. The rewriting is still in progress so here is the original. I'm not satisfied with it but it is appropriate for this holiday, so here it is ... for awhile_

**Chapter 1 (Peace)**

Rommie heard the rattling at the door and checked the time. The mailman had arrived. "Dylan, will you get the mail please? I'm busy in the kitchen." She heard a soft grunt of pain as her old captain got out of his chair and walked towards the door. The doctors had told her that while Dylan's legs would regenerate there would always be pain and stiffness in them, and the best thing she could do for him would be to insure that he exercised them as often as possible.

Putting down the paring knife she had been using to prepare lunch she joined Dylan in the cottage's living room. He was standing near the wood burning stove that served to heat the cottage examining the envelopes, and throwing some of them still unopened, into the fire that was the cottages primary source of warmth. Coming up behind him she resisted the urge to run her fingers through his hair; it was more gray than dark now and instead put her hands on his shoulders. Looking over his shoulder at the remaining mail in his hands, she asked, "Anything interesting?"

"We hit the jackpot today, Rommie. Letters from Andromeda, Beka, Trance and Harper. There's a letter for you from the Society for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligences and one official looking one from Mandlebrot. I just finished reading Beka's .She says she's still trying to decide what to do with the money she won in the Mobius planetary lottery."

"I'm sure she'll find something to do with it. You can add that letter from SAAI to the fire. I quit them years ago, but they still keep pestering me. They were more interested in collecting membership dues than in advancing our cause. It's no wonder the group fragmented. What do my other egos say?"

Dylan scanned the letter. "It's pretty long. I'll give you the highlights and you can read it later. She says that they're enjoying teaching at Mobius but will be glad when their body's finished and they can be a warship again. They've requested that CDR Heiyu be assigned as their executive officer when she's commissioned. Your request for your leave to be extended until she's commissioned has been approved. Oh, and here's some good news, she says that the Mobius base command and control entity has told her that I'm going to be officially retired at the rank of admiral."

"Dylan, that's wonderful. There can't be more than half a dozen Rim Worlders who have been selected to permanent flag rank."

"I suppose the fact that it's a retired rank figured into the equation." There was a touch of anger in his voice as he spoke . "The Core worlds certainly wouldn't want to set a precedent by promoting too many active duty Rim Worlders to flag rank. Well at least it will be a substantial increase in my retirement pay."

Rommie realized that she had inadvertently touched a nerve. The bulk of the High Guard personnel, and in particular the combat arms, was composed of inhabitants of the lightly populated Rim worlds yet it was the personnel from the Core Worlds that dominated the flag ranks of the High Guard. "What does my ex engineer have to say?" she asked deliberately trying to change the subject

Dylan opened up another later and read it silently. "Evie is pregnant again," he told Rommie when he had finished reading. " What is this, her third or fourth pregnancy?"

"Her third," answered the dark haired android. "But it will be their fourth child. Her second pregnancy was twins. Andromeda is going to miss him when she's recommissioned."

"Emigrating to Arkland was probably the wisest choice for them. He wrote me once telling me how Evie was tired of having to masquerade as an organic. The Than Hegemony is much less prejudiced against AI's than the Commonwealth." Seeing the look on his companion's face, Dylan took a page from Rommie's book and dropped the subject. Rommie was a loyal member of the Commonwealth but he knew that sometimes she felt as if the loyalty and respect was a one-way street.

"Let's see what Trance and Dr. Jackson are up to," he said, He opened the letter and quickly scanned the contents. "Just the usual, they're still saving the galaxies from conquest and enslavement."

"Well that's Trance, always where things are interesting. I still don't understand how she does it though. She's in an entirely different universe and 3,000 years in the past and we communicate with her by dropping letters in a mail box. What's the official letter you were talking about?"

"Like you said, that's Trance. Just a sec and let me look at it." Dylan opened the letter and slowly read its contents. A mixture of emotions crossed his face as he read it. When he was done he handed the letter to Rommie. "I think you had better read this yourself."

The letter read:

_To: Captain Dylan Hunt High Guard (retired)_

_and _

_Chief Warrant Officer Third Class Andromeda Ascendant High Guard_

_It is our sad duty to inform you that Michael Lincoln and his wife Heather were killed in an air car accident. They are survived by their minor daughter Andromeda Rihan Lincoln. As there is no other next of kin and you are listed as her godparents, it is required of us that we inquire if you wish to assume the duties of foster parents for the child. If you are willing to assume the duties you must come to Mandlebrot to assume custody of the child. If you decline the task, the child will become a ward of the state and will be sent to an appropriate foster family when one is located._

_Respectfully_

_Harold Daughtery Esq. _

Rommie put down the letter. "Dylan will you contact the spaceport? While you're doing that I'll pack our bags. This letter was sent ten days ago, we need to hurry"


	2. Peace Pt2

The trip to Mandlebrot was uneventful but stressful. Dylan was able to commandeer a Commonwealth courier craft and pilot from the small, very small, High Guard communications station on Broughton to transport them to Mandlebrot. As he said to Rommie, "There are perks to being an admiral, even a retired one."

Courier craft are fast but space is vast and it was a 17-hour transit to Mandlebrot Rommie spent most the time pacing the corridor between the crew compartment where she and Dylan were riding and the pilot's station fretting about how they would be received by her namesake and about living accommodations when they returned home. Dylan, ever the optimist, reminded her that while they might not have been the most doting of godparents, they had corresponded with the girl on a more or less regular basis and had seen her in person on a handful of occasions. "She was a well behaved young lady when we last saw her," he said. " How much can she have changed in two years?"

Having tight beamed the spaceport upon their arrival in system, they were met by a member of the child welfare authorities that were currently taking care of Andromeda when they arrived at the spaceport . The official effused about how pleased he was that the two of them had come to pick up Andromeda and went on to explain that her parents had been killed when the steering of their grav car failed. "Fortunately your goddaughter was home with some of her girlfriends when the accident occurred or she would have been killed as well. The chances of such a steering failure are less than 1 in a million but when you have enough grav cars in the air sooner or later the odds catch up with us." Dylan wasn't sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing that the authorities were so eager to meet Rommie and him.. Either the authorities were trying to be polite or they very much wanted them to take the girl off their hands. The fact that the official had become evasive when asked about Andromeda's emotional state made Dylan suspect that the latter was closer to the truth. He got his answer when he and Rommie were introduced to Andromeda.

Andromeda had been ten when they had last seen her. She and her parents had been on holiday and the starliner they had been passengers aboard had made a brief stopover on Broughton. Dylan's impression of Andromeda at the time had been of a somewhat shy, gangly, _preadolescent _ composed mostly of knees and elbows with a face full of freckles.. She was now twelve and in the two years since he had last seen her had started to change from girl to young woman. The backless sun dress she was wearing was appropriate for Mandelbrot's climate, and from what he had observed of the local clothing styles on the way from the spaceport to the child welfare offices, was actually somewhat conservative by Mandelbrot standards, but it did reveal a great deal of her figure. Her face, legs and bust line had developed enough to give Dylan an idea of what she would look like when she was fully grown, and it was enough to make him wonder if he could simply lock her in a closet until she reached her majority. He expected that doing so would make his life much simpler in the future.

"Hello Andy," said Dylan. "You've grown up since I last saw you."

"Go away!" shouted the girl. "You're not family. I don't want to go to Broughton with you. I've been there before. I'm big enough to make my own decisions now and I want to stay here where it's civilized"

The conversation went down hill from there. Andromeda alternating between tears and anger, and Dylan trying to be patient and reasonable, telling himself that it was only to be expected that the girl would be emotionally unstable.

Rommie let the dialog go on for about ten minutes then decided to step in. It was obvious to her that Dylan's approach was wrong. The girl's world had just been destroyed, everyone and everything she had counted on was gone. She didn't need sympathy she needed a feeling of security and the knowledge that there was someone in charge. It was time for a bluff, and the tough love approach.

"Enough," Rommie barked using the same tone of voice she used on recalcitrant recruits. "You have only two options. You can come live with us on Broughton. or you can be given to strangers who will most likely be taking you in for the child care payments and not because they care for you. Dylan and I are going to step outside. You have five minutes to make up your mind. If you don't come out within five minutes we're leaving. Over the private com link she shared with Dylan she said "Play along."

Dylan nodded his head in agreement. "Rommie's right," he said. You've known us all your life; we were even present when you were born. We're the only family you have left, but it's your decision, family or strangers." With that he turned his back toward her and accompanied Rommie out the door and into the hallway.

Four and a half minutes later the door opened and Andromeda stepped out. She had made some attempt to dry her tears but her eyes were still red and swollen. "I'm ready to go, Captain Hunt" she said quietly.


	3. Blitzkrieg

**Chapter 2 (Blitzkrieg)**

Rather than take a courier craft back home. Dylan opted that they take a commercial starliner back. He wanted to give Andromeda some time to get used to her new family, and her new family some time to get used to her. Fortunately Broughton was a popular tourist destination so commercial liners visited the planet regularly. The trip back was tense with Andromeda still alternating between tears and anger, but by the time they arrived at Broughton, she had begun to come to terms with her new situation. The real problems started when she arrived at her new home.

Andromeda's claim that Broughton was uncivilized was patently false, but the two planets were different worlds in more than just the literal sense. Mandlebrot's overall climate was subtropical, while Broughton could be best described as chilly. Mandlebrot was a heavily populated world with most of the population living in large cities. Broughton was, to be charitable, a sleepy backwater of a planet with most of the population living in rural areas. Mandlebrot was known as a relatively high technology planet Broughton was not. It's claim to fame being a resort world for tourists who wanted to get away from the hustle and bustle of their daily lives. Outside the planet's few large cities and the space port, people were more likely to walk or use bicycles as a means of transportation than motorized vehicles. The former captain of the most powerful warship in the New Systems Commonwealth had settled on a planet whose Home Guard space forces consisted of, aside from the courier craft stationed at the High Guard communications station, a squadron of obsolete slip fighters and a frigate that was so old it's crew insisted the vessel predated the Vedran Empire.

Cape Breton where Dylan and Rommie, and now Andromeda, had taken residence was, even by Broughton's somnolent standards, slow and slumberous. It was little more than a village numbering approximately 250 families with perhaps a another quarter of that number living on farms in the surrounding area. The towns sole distinction was that it was located relatively near the planet's Home Guard base. Horses drawn carts were more common than motorized vehicles and broadband communications meant a building with more than one telephone. The electric runabout that Dylan used for his bimonthly visits to the Home Guard base, and which over short distances was actually slower than the local horses, was one of the dozen or so motorized vehicles in the town. The larger of the village's two pubs was the town's center of entertainment, functioning as restaurant, tavern and on one day of the week vid theater. To some people the town might have been considered an ideal place to raise a young girl. Andromeda was not one of those people.

Andromeda had never cooked a meal from scratch in her life. Now to her astonishment she learned that she was now expected to not only help prepare dinner but to bring in the wood for the stove and learn how to cook over a wood fire. The girl had prided herself on her knowledge of the newest dance crazes on Mandlebrot. but knowing how to do the rikitiki was no use when it came to sitting astride a horse. Her clothing while sensible for Mandlebrot's climate and reasonably stylish by that planets standards was totally inappropriate for Broughton's climate, and while both planets nominally used Common as their primary language the dialects were totally different. Even the grass was wrong. The vegetation on Mandlebrot was an emerald green in color while the vegetation on Broughton bordered on indigo. In short Andromeda was not only adjusting to a new set of parents, she had to adjust to an entirely new culture.

Andromeda wasn't the only one that had to adjust. Since their godchild was not a member of the High Guard they could simply give orders to and expect them to be obeyed, and convening a court martial when she was disobedient was out of the question, Rommie and Dylan were forced to learn other ways of enforcing discipline. Additionally the cottage they now shared had only two bedrooms; Before Andromeda's arrival Dylan and Rommie had shared one with Dylan using the other as his office and study. He now had to relinquish his office to his foster daughter and complained long and loudly to Rommie about the inconvenience. After a time Rommie began to suspect she had not one but two children to raise.

Time passed, and Andromeda with the resilience of the young adapted to her new surroundings. Tears and anger were replaced first by resignation, then by whole hearted acceptance of her new surroundings. She learned that coming from a different planet made her 'the exotic foreigner' rather than just 'the new girl'. She also found that there were advantages to having famous foster parents; though the advantages weren't as great as she would have liked, since both Dylan and Rommie refused to let her take advantage of their fame. She learned to ride a horse and was soon chattering away in the slang the local teenagers used to confound their parents and guardians. Rommie applied for and was granted an indefinite leave of absence, though it was without pay. To Dylan's consternation Andromeda soon attracted the attention of the local boys and his life as he had predicted became even more complicated. Andromeda in turn ceased calling her foster parents by their military titles and began calling them Uncle Dylan and Aunt Rommie. Days became months and months years with the family celebrating Andromeda's thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth birthdays together. Their lives were proceeding if not smoothly at least normally until the day a registered letter from the Office of Public Safety arrived.

Dylan had been working on the fence surrounding the family's garden when the mailman arrived; deciding that this would be a good time to take a break he put his tools down and entered the cottage. To his astonishment he saw Rommie sitting in one of the chairs in the family room clutching a letter in her hands and shaking like a leaf .

"What's the matter Rommie?"

Wordlessly Rommie handed him the letter she had been reading. As he read it Dylan felt his own knees go weak. The letter was from the Broughton Office of Public Safety.

_To: Admiral Dylan Hunt High Guard (retired)_

_From: Systems Commonwealth Office of Public Safety, Broughton Department_

_It has been brought to our attention that the foster mother of your foster child, Andromeda Rihan Lincoln, is not an organic life form but rather the avatar of the artificial intelligence designated as __Shining Path to Truth and Knowledge AI model GRA 112, serial number XMC-10-182.__ In pursuance with the Systems Commonwealth statue AI477.3b subparagraph c, artificial intelligences may not be entrusted with the care of minor children. Therefor you are ordered to immediately release your afore mentioned foster daughter to the care of the local child protection authorities until such time as she can be placed in a proper foster home._

"We're going to fight this aren't we Dylan.' asked Rommie. From the tone of her voice Dylan knew she was starting a fact not asking a question.

He reached up and put his hand on her cheek "Of course but there's something odd about this letter. The child welfare authorities knew you were an AI when we brought Andromeda home, but they raised no objections at the time. I suspect something else is behind this. Andy's visiting her friend Laura, why don't you call her and get her to come home while I send some messages out to our friends. We're going to need some help."


	4. Regroup Pt1

**Chapter 3 (Regroup)**

"I got here as quickly as I could, Dylan. Is everyone else here?"

Dylan looked at his former first officer. She was still as slim as the day they had first met, but there were lines on her face that hadn't been there then. The years of warfare between first the Magog, then the Collectors and later the Dragans, the Kalderans, and the Pryians had taken their toll. She had seen too much combat and had too many of her Buccaneers die.

"You're the last one, Beka. Congratulations on your lottery winnings by the way. Do you need some time to rest or do you want to get started right away?"

"Thanks, Dylan. It's a lot more than the Commonwealth gave me when I mustered out." There was a hint of anger in her voice.

Dylan forced himself to meet Beka's gaze. "I tried, Beka. I really did, but the retirement board wouldn't budge. You were never officially sworn in as a member of the High Guard, so they refused to authorize your pension."

"I know you tried, Dylan, and I know where that anonymous gift came from too. Tell the boys and girls thank you for me. It kept me going until I got my shipping company established. Now that I'm filthy rich I can pay them back."

"It was a gift, Beka They'd be insulted if you tried to give it back. I'll have Andromeda send them your regards though." He made a mental note to himself to give Harper a warning. Beka didn't need to know that he had sent her old engineer to Mobius shortly before Beka's transport arrived, with some very specific instructions to give to Andromeda regarding the lottery Dylan knew Beka was addicted to. "Let's go inside and meet the others."

The living room was crowded. Trance and Evie were sitting in the rooms two overstuffed easy chairs while Harper, Dr Jackson and Rommie were clustered around the room's stove. Harper was holding his hands over the stove. Arkland, like Mandlebrot, was a considerably warmer planet than Broughton. Leaning against the wall, a drink in hand, was a middle aged woman Beka didn't recognize. After studying her for a minute the memory of the woman returned. She was Lt Heiyu who had served for a short while aboard the Andromeda. In the doorway leading to what, judging from the odors of cooking wafting out of it, Beka surmised was the kitchen, stood an attractive looking teenaged girl with shoulder length brown hair in which a large number of small metallic objects had been woven.

"Beka!" exclaimed Evie as she levered herself out of the chair and held out her hands to her old friend. "It's so good to see you again." As she got up Beka nearly did a double take. She had known through correspondence with Harper about his work on artificial wombs and of Evie's pregnancies, but it had never sunk in at the emotional level till now when she saw the pregnant android. Evie looked older than Beka remembered her. After a moment Beka decided that she must be deliberately aging her appearance so Harper wouldn't feel uncomfortable with an ageless wife while he was turning grey.

"Hiya, Boss," said Harper walking over to her. He was wearing a sky blue shirt with a gaudy print of purple and yellow flowers on it. Beka's features split into a wide smile. Some things about Harper would never change. He gave her a quick hug. "It's good to see you. You're looking good. Figured out what you're going to do now that you're rich?"

"Not yet Shorty; I'm still trying to get used to the idea. You're looking good too. Still teaching at the university?" Harper did look good, his taste in clothing aside. He was older of course, but there was a calmness to him that had been absent during his years on the _Andromeda_ and later at the Mobius weapons development laboratories. He had always been confident about his abilities as an engineer but now he seemed confident about himself. Beka reminded herself to tell Evie that she had done wonders for Harper.

"It's good to see you again. Captain Valentine," said Dr Jackson. As he spoke Trance got out of her chair to stand beside him, and this time Beka did do a double take. Trance's tail was back, and was in the process of wrapping itself around her lover's waist.

"Daniel, missed it so I grew it back," explained Trance noticing Beka's reaction and where her eyes were focused. As she was speaking Dr Jackson put his left arm around her shoulder, and Beka did her second double take in as many minutes. Dr Jackson's hand, now draped possessively over Trance, was missing three fingers. Only the index finger and thumb were present.

"I didn't duck in time," he offered in way of explanation.

"I told Daniel that while we are here we would see about getting his fingers regenerated," added Trance.

"I think we can arrange for that to happen," said Dylan who had come over to join the conversation..

"Beka," added Rommie, "I don't think you've seen Andy since her parents took her off me when she was an infant. Why don't I introduce her to you?" She waved her hand in a 'come over here' gesture to the girl, who walked over to the two women with an embarrassed expression on her face. She was accompanied by a jingling sound as she walked and Beka realized the metallic objects in the girl's hair were bells. She also suspected, noticing the somewhat exasperated look on Rommie's face, that Andy and Rommie did not see eye to eye on Andy's choice of hair styling.

"Beka, this is my goddaughter Andromeda. Andy, this is Captain Beka Valentine my old first officer, and one of the best slipstream pilots in three galaxies."

Beka held out her hand, but to her surprise the girl didn't take it, rather she placed her hands together chest high, fingers pointing up, and nodded briefly her chin touching her upraised fingers. "I'm pleased to meet you, Captain Valentine, Uncle Dylan and Aunt Rommie have told me all about you."

"Whatever they told you was probably a lie, and it's Beka not Captain Valentine." Beka was gong through some mental calculations in her mind and coming up with a big zero. The girl in front of her was in her mid teens, but the Andromeda that she remembered had been born over 25 years ago.

"Mom and Dad put me in a stasis chamber shortly after I was born," explained Andromeda upon seeing the puzzled look on Beka's face. "Chronologically I'm almost 27, but biologically I'm only fifteen."

"I see," replied Beka. Mentally she was berating Andromeda's parents. She was aware of the practice. The idea was that a woman could have her children when she was best able to bear them and then thaw them out so to speak when she was best able to afford to raise them. She saw the logic but considered the practice deplorable.

"Now that we're all here," announced Dylan a drink of his own in hand, "Commander Heiyu will let us know what she's found out about this lawsuit. I would've liked to have given you all some time to catch up with Beka first, but the Commander needs to catch the next courier flight back to Mobius where she'll be helping us from there. So she'll give us a briefing now before she leaves."

"Thank you, Admiral," answered Heiyu. "I made some inquires and I found the source of the lawsuit. It originated with a Keith Lawson living in Cornwall."

"I think a talk with Mr. Lawson might be in order," said Beka, murder in her voice.

"You'll have to hold a séance if you want to talk to him then,"said Heiyu.

"What do you mean?" asked Trance, her tail still wrapped around Dr Jackson's waist.

"Keith Lawson died five years ago," answered Heiyu. "The address listed on the complaint turned out to be a vacant lot."

"Then who started the complaint, and why, and why now?" asked Rommie.

"I can't answer the why or who yet," said Heiyu. "But I've called in all my markers from my friends and coworkers in the Intelligence community, and people are trying to get answers to those questions. As to the why now, I suspect that it took this long for the knowledge of your present whereabouts to reach interested ears." At Dylan's puzzled look she gave her old commanding officer an apologetic look and continued.. "With all due respect, Sir, you're old news. To most of the Commonwealth you're something they read about in histories. I suspect that outside of Cape Breton even most of the inhabitants of Broughton don't know that you live here."

"How the mighty have fallen," murmured Beka but there was no malice in her voice only sadness.

"It was Admiral Tanaka, who planed the assault on the Magog world ship and orchestrated our strategy during the Nietzschean Wars, Beka, not me," admonished Dylan gently. "We served under him, not the other way around. I may have been the one who started the New Systems Commonwealth, but I only started the job, others took my place and continued the work. And I was happy to relinquish my spot to them.. It's only fitting the they be remembered not me."

"It's not as though you've been forgotten, Beka," consoled Trance. "It's just that people tend to remember the men and women who win wars better than they do those who win the peace."

"You haven't exactly been forgotten militarily either. Beka," added Heiyu. "When the Andromeda was operating as a raider behind the Nietzschean lines during the second war, you had as much as a quarter of the Nietzschean fleet searching for you rather than confronting my father. And your ground assault on Sarvong's Anvil is now a case study at the Academy on Mobius."

"Just as long as they spell my name correctly in the history, books then," replied Beka. "And congratulations on your promotions Commander."

"Rommie," interjected Dr Jackson. "In you letter you said you wanted to fight this out. Andy is three years away from her majority. Is there anyway you could delay the case until then? Then it would be a non issue. Why are you so insistent in letting it go to court? It won't help you and you might just loose."

"If it were that simple Dr. Jackson I would but it isn't," answered Rommie. "Andy is in all ways that count my daughter, and I'll fight anyone who tries to take her from me, but this isn't really isn't just about me and Andy. It's about all AI's and their place in the New Systems Commonwealth. This is the first case like this involving an AI in the New Commonwealth so what ever the outcome, it will set a precedent that will be followed for years to come in the courts. If I win it may be the first real step towards real equality for all the AI's in the New Commonwealth. But if I don't fight it will encourage other attempts to erode the freedoms we worked so hard to obtain, and it won't be long before AI's are little more than slaves again. So you see I can't run from this fight I have to meet it head on."

"I knew you were going to say that Aunt Rommie," put in Andromeda who had up to this point been quietly listening to the adults' conversations.

"Why is that, Andy?" asked Rommie.

"You know that phrase that you always use. You're a warship and you don't like to run from a fight."


	5. Regroup Pt2

There was a bit more discussion about the situation after Commander Heiyu left, but Rommie, quite uncharacteristically for her, attempted to derail the conversation. Eventually her guests abandoned the subject, and talk turned to their days on the Andromeda. Before long Andy was being regaled with a series of stories about her foster parents, stories in which they were either the victim of some humorous situation or the instigators of it. The talk continued until Rommie abruptly excused herself and left the cottage. After a moment Evie followed suit and went after her old shipmate. She found Rommie in the back yard of the cottage, her hands resting on the fence, looking up at Broughton's twin moons which were both full in the evening sky.

"Beautiful night isn't it," said Evie quietly as she came alongside Rommie at the fence, and looked up at the twin moons as well, enjoying the feel of the late summer night breeze on her face. "Want to tell me what's bothering you, Rommie?"

"What makes you think something's bothering me, Evie?" asked Rommie, still looking at the moons rather than Evie.

"You mean beside the fact that you're as restless as a duroc in a thunderstorm? You were calmer than this when we went up against the Worldship."

"What happens if we loose, Evie?" asked Rommie plaintively, turning to face her friend. "There's so much at stake here."

"We're not going to loose," stated Evie with a certainty that would have seemed more fitting for Trance when she was making a pronouncement about the future.

"But what if we do?" pressed Rommie.

"If things don't work out here, you, Dylan, and Andy can always return to the Than Hegemony with Harper and me. The three of you would be welcome there."

Rommie chuckled. "Tyr made a similar offer. Though I suspect he had ulterior motives when he made the offer."

"Tyr ALWAYS has ulterior motives. I can imagine the headlines within the Unified Prides. 'Father of the New Systems Commonwealth hounded from his home. Seeks sanctuary with former enemies.'"

Both women began to laugh but after a moment Evie stopped.

"Ok now that you gotten that out of your system, what's really bothering you?"

"Nothing, there's..."

"Don't give me that crap, Rommie," Evie cut her off in mid sentence. Her arms were crossed over her chest in a posture that Rommie recognized as the posture she herself used when going into stern mode with a rebellious young enlisted person. "We served together for over 15 years and have been friends for longer than that. We've been each others confidants for every one of those years. You've told me things you kept from your sister/selves. I know you as well as you know yourself. So what's this really all about?"

'Is it worth it, Evie?" asked Rommie once more looking up at the moons rather than her friend.

The sudden change of subject took the other android by surprise. "Is what worth what?"

"Having a family. Giving up your career in the High Guard."

"I didn't give up my career, Rommie. I'm just taking a break from it. What brought this on?"

"Dylan wants children of his own. He's wanted them ever since Andy became part of our family," came the quiet response.

"I see," there was a multitude of meanings in the two words. "And how do you feel about it?"

"Twenty years or so out of your life is a long time, and the fact that I will undoubtedly outlive my grandchildren almost horrifies me."

"You just answered your own fears, Rommie."

"What do you mean, Evie?"

"For an organic woman 20 years is a long time out of her life, but for us it's almost nothing. That's what I meant when I said I was only taking a break from my career. I could have a dozen children, and when they were all grown I could, if I wanted to, go back to the High Guard or take up another career as young as I am now We will outlive our grandchildren, and that's about the saddest thing I can think of, but you're forgetting something important. We will also be there to guide and protect them, and their grandchildren. Our great great grandchildren will have an advantage no organic child will ever have. Ourselves. Now it's my turn. Are you in love with him?"

"Dylan? Of course I love him."

Evie gave a sigh of exasperation, "I didn't ask if you loved him, Rommie. I asked if you were in love with him. Are.. you.. in.. love.. with.. him?" She spoke each word of the question slowly and distinctly to give it emphasis.

"I am now." Forestalling Evie's question Rommie continued. "At first I thought I was in love with him, but then I realized it was just infatuation. Then I loved him but wasn't in love with him and then things changed again."

"What do you mean?"

"It was after he lost his legs. After Harper had gotten orders to the weapons research labs on Mobius and the two of you had transferred off me." A far away expression came over her face, as in her mind she went back in time. "The Triumvirs had ordered a Shiva strike on Pyria in retaliation for Tarazed. We had driven the Pyrians back to their home system when the triumvirate abruptly recalled the Core World's Home Guard units claiming 'the need to protect strategic assets', and left us facing the squids with a collection of battle damaged and or obsolescent units, assigned to complete a mission that would have been near suicidal even with the assistance of the Home Guard units. The squids threw everything they had at us, using fighters as suicide craft, sending in entire flights running hot and loud to cover for a single fighter running dark. I had already lost the majority of my fighters and had sustained substantial battle damage on the way in system from our slipstream exit point. Some of my AG projectors had been destroyed leaving gaps in my coverage. One of their fighters running dark slipped by our perimeter ships and made its run on me. I destroyed it, but it had gotten too close, and it was in an area that was no longer protected by my AG generators. When the wreckage hit me it might as well have been a salvo of offensive missiles. The command deck wasn't holed but the shockwave was enough. The weapons officer's control console was ripped off its mountings and flew across the length of deck. Dylan was in its path, and it took him with it, pinning him against the far bulkhead.. His left leg was completely severed and his right was crushed into jelly. It was a miracle he didn't bleed to death before I got to him.

Up to that point I think he thought he was immortal. There was an arrogance to him, as if he felt he was too important for the universe to allow him to be injured. Then suddenly he was helpless, a cripple, and being informed he was going to be put out to pasture. For the first time in his life he realized that the universe didn't revolve around him, and that he needed other people's help, not just to complete a mission. but simply to do daily tasks. It changed him, and I fell in love with the changed man."

Evie reached out to touch her friend's arm, to bring her back to the here and now. "Then you need to talk to him, Rommie. If you're not sure if you want children and he does it's something the two of you have to work out between you if your relationship is going to last. All I can tell you is that the love I felt for my and our crew is nothing compared to the love I feel towards my children." She stopped as a look of discomfort crossed her features. "Sorry the baby is getting rambunctious."

"You can feel the baby move inside you?" asked an astounded Rommie. "I knew that Harper had perfected an artificial womb, but that's incredible."

"It's not really as artificial as you might think. It's based on the same material our skin is made from and is nourished by the same system that nourishes our skin. Harper says the real challenge was devising an system to feed the baby and remove wastes. I guess if you wanted to get technical about it I'm a cyborg now rather than an android.

"Now I think we'd better go back inside. Andy and the men are going to be hungry, and if we let Trance and Beka cook for them we'll probably have to deal with food poisoning."


	6. Maneuvers Pt1

**Chapter 4 **(**Maneuvers**)

Breakfast the next morning was interrupted by a knock at the front door.

Dylan and Rommie exchanged mildly puzzled looks. "Were any of your friends coming over today, Andy?"asked Rommie.

Her mouth too full of food to reply, Andy shook her head 'no', and her foster parent's expressions changed from puzzled to concerned.

"I'll get it," said Dr. Jackson, pushing away a plate that had been heaped with pancakes and eggs. "I'm finished anyway."

"Wait just a minute, Doctor," said Beka. She got up from the table and walked into Andy's room where she had deposited her personal belongings the previous evening, returning a minute later carrying her gauss pistol. Then positioning herself to one side of the door, weapon at the ready, she nodded to Dr Jackson. '"Now you can open the door."

When Dr Jackson opened the door he saw two uniformed men standing before him. One was in his mid forties, balding and somewhat over weight while the other one was in his twenties, leaner, with close cropped hair. To Dr Jackson's relief neither man was carrying a weapon.

"Is the Admiral home?" asked the older man.

"Dylan," called Dr Jackson. "You've got visitors."

There was a scraping sound as Dylan moved his chair away from the breakfast table "Sam, Berig," he said giving both men a small nod as he arrived at the doorway. "What brings the two of you over?"

Both men looked ill at ease, the younger one looked down at the ground and shuffled his feet uneasily. "We're here to carry out an Office of Public Security executive order, Admiral," said the older. "The O. P. S. has ordered us to remove your foster daughter from your care and to place her in a foster home, pending the outcome of the Judge Advocate Corps' decision."

"I was wondering when you would be showing up for Andy," said Dylan his voice carefully neutral. "Why don't the two of you come inside and we can discuss this. It will be more comfortable than standing here in the doorway, and I can introduce you around."

By this time the living room was crowded as everyone had filtered out of the kitchen to see what was going on. Both newcomers looked nervously at Beka who was still holding her pistol at the ready.

"You can put the gun away, Beka," said Dylan. "This is Sam," he indicated the older man "and," gesturing to the younger, "Berig. Cape Breton's constable and his deputy. They're here to serve O. P. S. executive orders on us. Andy, will you bring our guests some coffee. I believe there's still some left in the pot, unless Harper finished it. "

"The two of you are the town's entire police department?" asked Beka as she lowered her weapon, incredulity in her voice.

"Actually, ma'am. There's three of us," said Berig obviously relieved that Beka had lowered her pistol. "But Locke only works part time."

"May I see the order," requested Dylan

Sam reached into the cargo pocket on his pants and removed a flexie which he handed to Dylan. Dylan activated the display and looked over the contents. As Sam had told him it was from the Office of Public Safety ordering the Cape Breton constabulary to remove Andy from Dylan and Rommie's custody and place her in a foster home. Dylan handed the flexie to Rommie, who was immediately surrounded by the rest of the adults as they all tried to read the display screen.

"You do realize that I have no intention of turning Andy over to a foster home, don't you," said Dylan.

"I didn't think you would, sir," replied Sam. "But you can be sure that your refusal is going to be used as a reason to bring criminal charges against you."

By this time Andy had returned from the kitchen carrying a tray bearing three cups of coffee and containers of cream and sugar. Both policemen and Dylan took a cup, grateful for the interruption. Andy placed the tray on the cottage stove and came back to stand at her foster father's side, hands on hips arms akimbo glaring defiantly at the two police officers.

"So now what?" asked Dylan.

The older police officer took a sip of his coffee then looked Dylan squarely in the eyes. "Admiral, my uncle served with you on the Andromeda when the Commonwealth went up against the Worldship. I was with the 5307 Composite Unit on Rabaul. Andromeda's Lancers were with us when we dug the Ubers out of their holes at Myitkina and it was your Sergeant Major that held things together when the Nietz counterattacked and our CO was killed. Berig's dad was on the Indefatigable Defender with the Andromeda battle group at the second battle of Witchhead."

By this time Rommie had given Trance the flexie and had walked over to be beside Dylan and her stepdaughter.

"I've known you and the Warrant for years," continued Sam. "Hell, Andy is my middle daughter's classmate. I can't see how Andy would be better off in a foster home than she would be with her own folks." The constable put his coffee cup down on the cottage stove and turned to his deputy. "Come on, Berig. The mayor said we had to demand that the Admiral turn Andy over to us. He didn't say that we had to force him if he refused. We've done our duty. It's time to go."

"Goodbye Sam," said Rommie. "Give my regards to Cora and the family."

"Thank you, ma'am. I'll do that," answered Sam as the police officers turned towards the door. As his hand touched the door handle, he stopped and turned back towards Dylan and the others. "Admiral, the fact that I'm not going to execute the order doesn't change the situation. You can be sure that the O.P.S. Will be sending someone else to take Andy away from you, and they may not care who gets hurt in the process."

"The Civil Guard?"

"Not very likely. The last time the Civvies took action when local law enforcement cautioned against it, it resulted in a bloodbath. It was while you and the Warrant were at the veterans conference on Bathsheba. A group of farmers in Courtenay decided they didn't want to pay taxes and forted themselves up in a bunker on one of the farms. The local constabulary simply sealed them off, and was going to let them stew until they ran out of food and fuel. The O. P. S. decided they weren't going to listen to the advice of the local authorities and ordered the Civvies to storm the compound. The Civvies say that the farmers suicided, the locals say that the Civvies used a bunker buster satchel charge, but in any event there was an explosion and three families were wiped out. The O. P. S. isn't going to risk another public relations disaster like that, so if a snatch goes down it's going to be done by freelancers, so the powers that be can deny responsibility if things go to hell."

"Thanks for the warning, Sam," said Dylan. "We'll be careful. And you be careful too. If and when someone tries to take Andy from us, I'd appreciate it if you and your boys were nowhere around. I'd hate for you to get caught in the crossfire."


	7. Maneuvers Pt2

"I have bad news, worse news, and good news for you," said the man behind the desk.

Rommie, Dylan, and Beka were in Valdor the planetary capital of Broughton, and home of Nicholas Balasan, arguably one of the best advocates on Broughton, and certainly one of the most successful, if his rates were considered a standard of success. Beka taking advantage of her, for all intense and purposes, bottomless bank account had contacted the advocate asking that he represent her friends in the upcoming trial, and the advocate had agreed enthusiastically. The three of them along with the counselor were sitting in the counselor's meeting room sipping glasses of the brandy that was one of Broughton's primary offworld exports, winding up what had been several days of discussions and planning for the upcoming trial.

As Andy was back in school and it was an 28 hour trip by train from Cape Breton to Valdor, it had been decided that Andy would stay home with Evie, Harper, Trance and Dr Jackson while Beka, would accompany Dylan and Rommie to the planetary capital to meet the advocate Beka had contracted with. Dylan had elected to travel to Valdor by train rather than commander transportation from the High Guard base precisely because the train trip took 28 hours, and they had been able to obtain sleeper cars. The cottage which was cozy for three was now housing eight, and was to put it mildly, overcrowded. Andy had been forced to give up her bedroom to Harper and Evie and was now sharing her foster parent's room, sleeping on a cot at the foot of their bed. Harper and Evie, now ensconced in Andy's bedroom, were sleeping double in a single bed, while Trance, Dr Jackson and Beka were sleeping in the living room and drawing cards to see who slept on the couch and who slept on the cots. The sleeping situation was bad enough, but the fact that the cottage had only a single bathroom made a bad situation miserable. Rommie had flatly refused Dylan's suggestion that they dig a latrine pit in their back yard using language that Andy had attempted to memorize for her own use. The long train trip would afford Dylan and Rommie some much needed privacy, and the opportunity to engage in a variety of connubial activities that had they been unable to engage in with Andy sharing their room.

The refusal of the Cape Breton legal authorities to enforce the order issued against Rommie and Dylan had created what Rommie had called a 'judicial Sitzkrieg.' The Office of Public Safety was backing off to regroup in light of the town's rallying around Dylan and Rommie, and the unexpected appearance of outside interests in the case. Somehow the Than Hegemony had learned that one of their naturalized citizens, an esteemed university professor and war hero was involved in the case. Additionally the fact that a 'well placed individual in the High Guard' had released information to the press about the Nietzschean Unified Prides' offer of sanctuary was causing consternation within the office, as it seemed to indicate that not only was the High Guard taking an unusual amount of interest in a case involving some of their own, but that the Nietzscheans had intelligence on the Office's proceedings. As a result the Office was playing things very cautiously, which gave Dylan and Rommie cause to believe that they could make the trip to the capitol without having to fear apprehension by the Civil Guard.

"Let's hear the bad news first," requested Beka

"The bad news," said the advocate turning his attention to Dylan and Rommie, "is that your refusal to turn your foster daughter over the the child welfare offices has resulted in additional charges brought against the two of you. Fortunately your town's constable's refusal to enforce the executive order, saying that he knows both of you and feels that your stepdaughter is better off where she is with the two of you rather than in a foster home has taken the wind out of the sails of that charge. Without local support the O.P.S. would have to bring in outsiders to forcibly remove your foster daughter from your custody, which would be very risky for them if something went amiss.

"And the worse news is?" queried Rommie.

"The worse news," responded Balasan, "is I have ascertained the identity of my opposite number from the Office of Public Safety. He is ArimanusKlallam.

"The name sounds Nietzschean," said Dylan. "Why is he such bad news? We're not going to engage in trial by combat."

To begin with,' said the counselor "he's ambitious. He's made no secret of the fact that he has his sights set on a seat in the planetary Senate, at the very minimum. Considering who the two of you are, this case will attract a great deal of attention from the news vids He undoubtedly considers this case, and the accompanying publicity, a stepping stone to bigger and better things, and will pull out all stops to win it. He has also posted several articles in 'The Economist" decrying the changes the High Guard forced on the Triumvirate concerning AI's. He has been claiming that the Commonwealth's economy was damaged when the corporations were forced to pay their indentured servants a living wage. Unfortunately he's attracted a backing from certain wealthy individuals."

"Great," groused Beka. "We're dealing with an ambitious, well financed, bigot."

"It gets worse," said the advocate. "During the rebellion his family were Commonwealth loyalists. Both his grandfathers served in the 442nd Lancer Battalion.

Seeing the look on Beka's face, Rommie explained. "The unit was composed of Nietzscheans loyal to the Commonwealth. By the time the war wound down they were, for their size, the most heavily decorated unit of the High Guard. They were known as 'The Wounded Lion Battalion' because of the high number of 'Order of the Wounded Lion' medals they received."

"Exactly," continued Balasan. "And while his grandfathers were risking their lives for the Old Commonwealth, the Commonwealth showed their appreciation by placing their families in internment camps and confiscating their property. Both sides of the family were completely destitute when they were finally released."

"So, we have not just a well financed, ambitious bigot, but one with a personal ax to grind, gunning for us since we represent the Old Commonwealth," stated Dylan. "What's the good news?"

"I've learned which judges the Judge Advocate Corps has assigned to adjudicate the trial," stated Balasan. "It would have been hard to find a better combination if I had picked them myself. The case will be decided by a three judge panel. The senior judge is Wolfgang Arber. His specialty is economics, which probably won't be a factor, but among his judicial peers he is considered an one of the Corps' most outstanding investigators. He's actually been requested to adjudicate on several off world cases. He's virtually immune to showmanship and has a strong dislike for histrionics in his court."

"Who's the right hand judge?" asked Beka.

"Mist On Still Water, will be the subject matter expert. She's published several well received papers on expert systems and on the design of quantum computers. I suspect she was selected because being non human she will be detached from the emotional aspects of this case."

"And the third judge," asked Rommie.

"Cullen Parell," answered Balasan. "He's an expert in martial law and military history with an special interest in the pre fall High Guard. He will probably be the most sympathetic member of the panel. I have one other piece of good news. Since the is essentially a child custody case, albeit a rather novel one, I was able to convince the Judge Advocate Corps to have the hearing held in Cape Breton rather than in one of the other cities in the judicial district."

"I'm surprised that an expert in child psychology wasn't included as the right hand judge," said Dylan. "Considering that the O. P. S . is arguing that an organic child is in danger mentally as well as physically when raised by an AI."

"According to my sources that had been the original plan," said Balasan, "but Judge Arber argued that Mist on Still Water be the right hand judge and the Corps agreed."

"Sounds like we have the case in the bag then," said Beka.

"Don't you believe it," admonished Balasan. "Klallam didn't get where he is by being a poor prosecutor. He wouldn't have taken this case if he didn't think he has a good chance to win it. The Judge Advocate Corps is fully aware of the implications of this case. Frankly I'm surprised they didn't assign a five judge panel to decide it. You can be sure that they will be deciding this case on facts not emotions. Though I think that with the absolutely extraordinary information you gave me, Mrs Hunt, we will be able to convince the judges to rule in our favor."

"There's one other thing we can be sure of," added Beka. "The media is going to go crazy over this case. Before it's over Cape Breton will probably have more news vid teams than native population. It's going to be a zoo."

The counselor gave a snort of amusement. "Oh you can be sure of that, and you can bet that Klallam will attempt to use the media to his advantage. However I think that we will be able to use it to ours as well. Here is what I suggest..."

Before Balasan could make his suggestion he was interrupted by the of the phone sitting on the small table beside his chair. He picked it up, and as he listed to the voice on the other end his face grew grim.

"What? Was any one hurt? Thank the Divine for that..Call my driver and have him get my gravcar ready for a trip, and tell him to pack and overnight bag."

He put down the phone and turned to face the others. "That was my secretary. She just received a call from the Cape Breton constable's office. Approximately one hour ago there was an attempt to kidnap your foster daughter."


	8. Maneuvers Pt3

At the advocate's words Rommie grasped Dylan's arm so tightly that in other circumstances he would have gasped in pain, but at the moment he was too concerned about the welfare of his foster daughter to notice a minor thing like pain.

"Is she all right?" exclaimed Rommie. "Was any one hurt?"

"Other than a bad scare your foster daughter is fine," reassured Balasan. "Apparently she was at the stables with one of your friends, a Doctor Jackson, when the attempt took place. Fortunately she and her escort were able to fight off their attackers until help arrived. They're both safe at your home and the constable is with them. Doctor Jackson sustained some minor injuries but nothing serious."

"Did they recognize their attackers?" asked Dylan massaging his severely bruised arm.

"My secretary didn't have that information. I am assuming that the three of you will want to return home immediately. My driver will take you back to Cape Breton in my gravcar. You should be home in a matter of hours."

Balasan was as good as his word. The gravcar's driver, showing a fine disregard for local speed and altitude regulations, made the trip back from Valdor to Cape Breton in just over four hours. Rommie had called home before she, Dylan, and Beka began their return trip, but despite the reassurances Trance had given her over the advocate's phone, that both Andy and Dr Jackson were fine, that the town's constable and his deputies were taking turns staying with them, and that she, Harper, and Evie were fully capable of handling anything that should arise, Rommie spent the entire time in a state Dylan had never recalled seeing her in before, a sort of semi hysteria.

When they arrived at their house it was full dark. Balasan's driver informed Dylan, Rommie and Beka having rushed into the house as soon as the car had landed, that he would take a room at the local boarding house for the night and would return to Valdor in the morning, and that he would stop by the cottage before leaving to see if they had any messages for him to take back to his employer.

When Dylan entered the house he saw Rommie and Andy hugging each other, tears running down Rommie's cheeks. Trance was fussing over Dr Jackson who was sporting a monumental black eye. Beka was talking to Sam who this time, unlike his previous visit, was carrying a handgun in a shoulder holster. Harper and Evie were nowhere to be seen, but he heard their voices coming from out of the kitchen.

"I did just what you taught me to do, Uncle Dylan," exclaimed Andy, who by this time had extracted herself from her foster mother's embrace seemingly none the worse from the attempted kidnapping "When the man grabbed my wrist, I twisted against his thumb to break his grip then I stomped on his instep and started screaming 'Fire'. I remember you telling me that people were more likely to come running when you called that then if you called out for help. You should have seen Uncle Daniel. He was so brave. He took on the other two men all by himself."

"He wasn't being brave, he was being foolish," interrupted Trance. "He's too old to engage in fights with two men half his age." She turned her attention back to her lover. "I told you that you should let either me or Evie accompany you, but you insisted that you could take care of escorting Andy back from the stables by yourself. And look what happened. If those men hadn't run away when people started responding to Andy's cries she would be gone and you'd be injured, or worse."

"But I did handle the situation," Dr Jackson, began to object but stopped when he saw the look on Trance' face, fire flashing in her eyes.

The town constable ceased his conversation with Beka and walked to an unoccupied portion of the room, motioning for Dylan to join him as he did so. "I warned you this might happen, Admiral." he said. "It's fortunate that the friends your daughter had been riding with were still in the area and were able to bring help. It's unfortunate that their attackers weren't captured, but it's even more fortunate that no one was hurt. One of those would be kidnappers dropped a handgun." He changed the subject slightly. "We'll do fingerprint and DNA tests on the weapon of course, and send our results to the O.P.S for comparison against their database, but you can bet that they'll tell us that they have no matches in their database.

"Admiral, it seems to me that who ever planned this snatch didn't want any inconvenient witnesses. Doctor Jackson told me that the individual who dropped the gun didn't just lose it from his holster. He had it out and was getting ready to use it on your friend when he knocked it from his hand. Your daughter and your friend were lucky this time, but the next time they might not be."

"I know that Sam," answered Dylan. "They undoubtedly had been watching us for several days and took advantage of the fact that Rommie and I were gone, knowing that Doctor Jackson wouldn't realize that they weren't townspeople. But what do you suggest we do?" he asked, the frustration and anger evident in his voice. "Rommie and I will probably have to make several more trips to Valdor. Do you expect us to convert the cottage into a fortress, keep Andy home at all times, and never leave the cottage except in armed groups?" He clinched his right fist and slammed it into the palm of his left hand several times.."

"I know that Sam," answered Dylan. "They undoubtedly had been watching us for several days and took advantage of the fact that Rommie and I were gone, knowing that Doctor Jackson wouldn't realize that they weren't townspeople. But what do you suggest we do?" he asked, the frustration and anger evident in his voice. "Rommie and I will probably have to make several more trips to Valdor. Do you expect us to convert the cottage into a fortress, keep Andy home at all times, and never leave the cottage except in armed groups?" He clinched his right fist and slammed it into the palm of his left hand several times.

A hint of a smile passed across the police officer's face. "That's one solution, Admiral, and it would certainly make my life easier. I'm busy enough with all the news monkeys coming in and sticking their noses into this business, but I think a better solution is at hand."

"Well a squad or two of Lancers would be nice to have on hand, Sam, but I don't see any arriving," snapped Dylan sounding even more frustrated than before.

This time the smile on the police officer's face was more than just a hint of a smile. "Actually, Admiral, you will." He paused for a moment to enjoy the look of astonishment on Dylan's face before continuing. "I received a phone call from the High Guard com station this afternoon. Your Commander Heiyu has been busy. The system maintenance ship Provider will be arriving in a couple of days on it's regularly scheduled supply run. There'll be two squads of Lancers aboard on temporary detached duty to act as your body guards and staff. The Ell Tee who contacted me says that they're under the command of your old Sergeant Major."


	9. Maneuvers Pt4

"I hate this uniform," said Dylan to Rommie as he ran his fingers through the collar of his tunic trying to loosen the pressure on is windpipe.

Immediately after Sam had left the cottage Dylan had made a phone call to the operations office at the High Guard base. The operations officer had had given him the date and time that the _Provider_ would be arriving. He and Rommie were now on the tarmac of the landing pad, near to where the _Provider's _shuttle craft had landed, waiting to greet their old comrade in arms.

"You look very dashing in it," responded Rommie. Like Dylan she was wearing her dress greys. However, unlike Dylan, she hadn't gained any weight over the years and hers still fit comfortably.

"I'm retired. I don't have to wear uniforms if I don't want to."

"Would you really want to meet the Sergeant Major in civvies?" asked Rommie pointedly.

"Well..."

"Exactly. Just be glad you're wearing your dress greys and not your whites. I wouldn't have had time to let them out." She playfully poked him in the stomach with her finger. "What do you want to bet the Sergeant Major will have you doing calisthenics with his men once he gets them settled in?"

Dylan's retort about his weight gain was cut off as the shuttle craft's cargo hatch began to rise. The hatch opened, the landing ramp extended, and a voice could be heard bellowing from the cargo hold. "Straighten out those ranks you slack jawed, drooling, miserable excuses for Lancers, and make sure you step out smartly. The Admiral and the Warrant will be watching and I expect you to look sharp. Now pick up your kits and move out, and the Divine help anyone who stumbles on the ramp. If you do you'll be leaving with the shuttle when she lifts off, only you'll be nailed to her exterior hull when she does."

"It sounds as if the Sergeant Major is in rare form," whispered Rommie to Dylan.

A moment later the Lancers appeared, marching down the ramp single file and in perfect step. Each one was wearing full battle dress, the visors of their helmets raised so their faces were visible, each carrying their personal weapon slung over their left shoulder, and their kit bag their right hand. At the end of the column was Sergeant Major Beltran. The Umbrite was older than Dylan, but his back was still straight and his step strong. Unlike the others he was wearing service greys instead of battle dress, the longevity stripes on his left sleeve ran from the cuff of his blouse to the shoulder.

"Am I getting older or are the Lancers recruiting children now?" whispered Dylan to Rommie. "Some of the Sergeant Major's men don't look old enough to have to shave."

"Fall in," ordered the Sergeant Major as they reached the end of the loading ramp. "Two ranks." As soon as the Lancers were in formation he walked up to Dylan, and stopping at exactly the regulation three paces distance, came to attention, and gave a perfect salute. "Sergeant Major Beltran and Broughton Expeditionary Force One reporting for duty. Awaiting your orders, Sir."

Dylan's return salute was not nearly as precise. "Welcome to Broughton, Sergeant Major. Have your men stand at ease. I assume your kit will be arriving soon."

"Yes Sir. My kit is with the heavy weapons."

"Heavy weapons?" queried Dylan, not quite sure he wanted to know what the Sergeant Major meant.

The Umbrite turned to the troops standing at attention behind him. "Connors, Nguyen, bring out the rest of the equipment. The rest of you, at ease," he ordered.

Two of the younger Lancers broke ranks and headed back up the shuttle craft's loading ramp moving at not quite a run. A moment later a Gremlin armored personnel carrier trundled down the ramp followed by a grav lifter loaded with crates. From where Dylan was standing he could read the writing on one of the crates. It read 'Ammunition, Mortar, 107mm Cluster Munitions'

"I thought you and the others were sent here as body guards, Sergeant Major," said Dylan. "Not to fight a war."

"Well, Admiral, it never hurts to let the wogs know who has the upper hand."

The smile that had been on Rommie's face since the Sergeant Major had stepped off the shuttle disappeared. "Those wogs as you call them, Sergeant Major," she spoke quietly so the Lancers standing in ranks couldn't hear her, but the tone of rebuke in her voice was obvious, "are our friends and neighbors. Some of them served with you during the wars. Our daughter Andy, whom you were sent here to protect, goes to school with them and has started dating the local boys. You will not refer to them again as wogs."

Umbrites don't blush, but when they are embarrassed their mandibles click together. Sergeant Major Beltran's clicked several times, then he turned to his men still standing in ranks. "Enough standing around . Get the carrier loaded and get aboard. We'll be following the Admiral back to his home."

The men broke ranks, hurried over the the grav lifter, and began loading the crates onto the Gremlin. Deciding to pour some oil on troubled waters, Dylan walked over to where the Unbrite was overseeing the loading of the armored personnel carrier.

"I'm surprised, Sergeant Major, that you didn't bring in a Ung Tae with you," he said as two of the Lancers loaded a crate labeled 'Barrel Plasma Cannon 25mm' onto the Gremlin

"Sir! If the Admiral feels one is needed I can have one here within a week."

"Does the Admiral want to know how you'd manage that?"

"I'm sure the Admiral doesn't want to be bothered with a minor detail like that when he has much more important things to do."

"I'm sure the Admiral doesn't want to be bothered either. But, Sergeant Major, I'd like you to remember that the Warrant has put her roots down here, so try not to call her friends wogs. Or at least don't do so where she can hear you."

The two stood in companionable silence for a moment as the Lancers finished loading up the armoured personnel carrier. "Are you sure all this is firepower warranted, Sargent Major?" asked Dylan as the Lancers loaded up the last crate which was marked 'Grenades, Dual Purpose, Fragmentation, High explosive'

"May I remind the Admiral that Rim World flag officers are in danger of becoming an extinct life form?" responded the Umbrite.

"I'm not sure I follow you, Sergeant Major."

"I'm sure the Admiral is aware of Admiral Tanakas's sudden death by heart failure."

"What!" exclaimed Dylan loudly enough to cause some of the Lancers' heads to turn and bring Romme to his side. "When did this happen?"

"It was shortly after the skirmish between High Guard Group Defense Squadron Fifteen and units of the Castalia Home Guard, Admiral."

"What skirmish, Sargent Major? Please remember that I'm retired now, and don't have access to the latest intelligence reports."

By this time the Sergeant Major's men had gathered around their NCO and were following his words as interestedly as Dylan and Rommie. The Sergeant Major gave his species' equivalent of a sigh of resignation. "Begging the Admirals pardon, but if the Admiral hadn't settled in the arse end of nowhere, he might have access to current intelligence reports."

"The skirmish, Sargent Major," prompted Rommie.

"Of course, Ma'am. According to the reports we received, Group Defense Squadron Fifteen was on maneuvers in the outer regions of the Castalia system when they were attacked by units of the Castalian Home Guard. The Cassies claim that the courier ships carrying the messages about the squadron maneuvers never arrived, and when the squadron didn't respond with the proper codes when challenged, they attacked thinking the squadron was pirate flotilla. The squadron commander claims that the fish faces never issued a challenge, and they attacked without warning."

"What happened then, Sargent Major?" asked Rommie. She had placed her hand on Dylan's shoulder when she had come up to join the conversation, and Dylan could feel her tense up as she asked the question. During the wars GDS Fifteen had been assigned as her escort unit and she had become friends with the squadron's AI's.

"Those Core World wogs may make sure that they always have the newest equipment ma'am," continued the Umbrite, "but equipment doesn't do much good if you don't know how to fight. Our boys sent them back to Castalia with their tails between their legs, crying for their mothers." Several of the Lancers pumped their fists at the Sargent Major's words.

"So Admiral Tanaka was called to Castalia to explain what went wrong with communications," said Dylan. "That's understandable and quite proper."

"Unfortunately, Admiral, the Admiral died the night before he was supposed to testify. The O.P.S. office on Castalia took charge of investigating his death and determined that the Admiral suffered a massive heart attack. However, when High Guard headquarters on Mobious requested permission to send in a medical examining team for an independent investigation as to the Admiral's cause of death the Oopsies refused to grant permission."

"I suppose it could have just been coincidence," offered Rommie. "Perhaps the heart attack was brought on by the stress of the situation." The tone in her voice suggested that she didn't believe what she was suggesting.

"Not too bloody well likely," said the Sargent Major harshly. His mandibles clicked as he noticed the language he had used, and he continued in a more controlled tone of voice. "I pulled some strings, dropped a few well placed bribes, and got myself a look at his medical records. The Admiral had had a complete physical three months prior to the incident. And his heart was fine then."

"That's...interesting," said Dylan. The pause between the two words said more than the two words themselves.

"There's more, Admiral. Vice Admiral Hawking of Fenree died of a what was reported as a massive cerebral hemorrhage just days after Admiral Tanaka's death. The Vice Admiral's death was investigated by the Fenree Oopsies, who conveniently cremated his body after their investigation. When Commander Heiyu learned of the Vice Admiral's death she sent me here, with orders to ensure the Admiral doesn't become the next Rim World flag officer to come down with a sudden case of natural causes.


	10. Maneuvers Pt5

It might have been the sudden appearance of an armoured fighting vehicle bristling with weapons appearing in front of Dylan and Rommie's cottage and troops bivouacking in their yard that started the frenzy, or it could have been the arrival of the Than Hegemony government officials, some showing the green carapace of the warrior caste while others bore the iridescent 'diamond' carapace of the political / priestly caste, or it may have simply just been a matter of time, but the media circus that Beka had predicted appeared in full force. What the Broughton Office of Public Safety had hoped would be a low key custody battle had turned into a intergalactic news sensation.

With the Than Hegemony sending representatives to observe the trial, stating they had a vested interest in the outcome of the proceedings as citizens of one of their worlds were involved in the case, and the sanctuary offer by the United Prides becoming public knowledge as well, the Broughton government and the Office of Public Safety were both frantically conducting damage control operations. The O.P.S was working itself into a frenzy striving to minimize the significance of the trial while the Broughton planetary government was reminding its citizens that the O.P.S. was a Systems Commonwealth agency and the planetary government had no control over its actions.

The Society for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligences had announced that they would be sending observers, and would protest vigorously if Andy was separated from her foster mother, a threat the rest of the three galaxies ignored. But the Defenders of Sentient Machines had issued a statement as well, one stating that they would take action if Rommie was declared unfit, and that was a statement the galaxies did take notice of, as DSM actions generally included both high explosives and high body counts. The Broughton High Guard communications station went on alert status, locking the base down and securing it to all but official visitors. That combined with the fact that the High Guard contingent sent to protect Dylan and his family were equipped far in excess of the needs of any conceivable body guard duties, brought back memories of a quarter century ago, when the High Guard had forced the Triumvirate at gunpoint to emancipate the Commonwealth's AI population. The tabloids were running near hysterical prose suggesting that the High Guard was once again preparing to ensure the rights of Artificial Intelligences, this time over the bodies of Broughton citizens if need be.

Beka's presence added more fuel to the fire. While her lottery winnings didn't make her the richest woman in the three galaxies they were sufficient to put her in the honorable mention category. The journalistic speculations as to the reasons for her presence ranged from reasonably accurate, to scandalous, to patently absurd, all of them in laid out in bold type and lurid prose.

The reporters and news teams began to make the lives of Dylan, his family and friends, a form of slow torture. If it hadn't been for the presence of the Sergeant Major and his Lancers, who were literally camped out in the cottage's yard and forcing the news hounds to keep their distance, the reporters would have been the ones camped in the yard, thrusting cameras in their faces and badgering them with inane questions when any one of them left the cottage. A simple visit to the market to buy groceries required so many of the Sergeant Major's Lancers to keep the reporters at bay that it bore a closer resemblance to a sortie against enemy forces than a shopping trip. The news feeding frenzy was only controlled when Sam began deputizing townspeople to supplement the town's beleaguered constabulary. Fortunately for Sam Cape Breton, like many of the other small towns on Broughton, had a significant number of men and woman with military experience and at least a smattering of training in crowd control living in it. It was probably fortunate for the reporters as well, as the Sergeant Major had begun threatening to request that the Broughton Home Guard declare martial law over the town and give him permission to use lethal force to disperse the hordes reporters.

Andy quickly became known in the media as ' the girl who had been raised by robots' which showed a fine disregard for both her history and Rommie's nature. While she was initially a target of the gossip mongers the media were soon persuaded to turn their attention elsewhere. Trance and Evie, along with some of the Sergeant Major's Lancers, began escorting her to and from school and social activities. Reporters who became to aggressive were quickly separated from their recording devices, and occasionally from their teeth, while those who stalked the girl from a distance found that their equipment was mysteriously malfunctioning, as if it was being exposed to overwhelming amounts of sunlight.


	11. Attack Pt1

**Chapter 5 (Attack)**

It was a perfect early fall day. It had rained the night before and there was a freshness to the air. The sky was a flawless shade of azure with just a few fluffy clouds visible. It was chilly enough for a person to see their breath but the wind was still and the warmth of the sun made up for the chill in the air. It was a perfect day for a trial.

After weeks of legal preparations the trial was about to commence. As the town courthouse was far to small to handle the number of news teams and onlookers attracted to the proceedings, the trial had been relocated to the Cape Breton unified school's gymnasium. To the delight of the children attending the school, classes had been canceled due to the crowds making teaching and learning virtually impossible. Fortunately for their academic careers the trial was only scheduled to last a few days.

There was a crowd of onlookers, most of them townspeople and reporters, gathered around the steps to the gym waiting to catch a glimpse of the participants, while news vans lined the street, their crews watching, recording, and commenting for the benefit of distant viewers as Rommie, Dylan and Andy, escorted by their friends and the Lancers, walked towards the improvised courthouse. As they pushed through the crowd some of the Cape Breton residents began to clap and flash victory signs. After a moment most of the other residents joined in.

Balasan had done his PR work well. Despite his words to Rommie and Dylan that the judges would make their decision based solely on the merits of the case, he was aware that in the final analysis it might be the judges' gut feelings that decided the outcome, so he had taken pains to endure that Rommie was presented in as favorable light as possible. The news outlets had been showing images of Rommie in her High Guard dress uniform receiving decorations for heroism for her exploits during the wars. There were pictures of her surrounded by children asking for her autograph and other images of her, Andy and Dylan engaged in various family activities. He had even managed to get the entertainment vid of her adventure on Seldoria re released, though the real William had never been as handsome as the actor who portrayed him in the vid, nor had he died in her arms.

Rommie, her warrior instincts coming to the fore in a high stress situation, took a moment to survey her surrounding as she entered the gymnasium. The gym was filled to capacity. A table for the judges had been set up at the far end of the building. There were a number of computers on the table, all connected to a larger device behind the table which Rommie assumed connected to yet another, larger system.

The prosecution and defense had tables in the center of the gym underneath the banners depicting the successes of the school's athletic teams. There were a respectable number of them, one of which Andy had been instrumental in helping the school acquire. The reporters and newsvid teams were established along the perimeter of the floor near the bleachers, while observers and potential witnesses were seated in the bleachers themselves.

The judges had already taken their seats at their table. Arber, the senior judge, looked to be about the same age as Dylan. He was very dark complected with a fringe of white hair around a mostly bald head. At present he was gazing disapprovingly at the excited throng of observers and reporters. Somewhat to Rommie's surprise Mist on Still Water had a red carapace, indicating she was a member of the Than engineering caste. She had been expecting to see a blue carapaced member of the scholarly caste, but then remembered that Mist was the technical expert of the tribunal. Judge Parell looked younger than Arber, being perhaps in his mid forties. Rommie knew that he was an expert in military history, but there was something about the way he watched what was going on around him that suggested to her that he might have been an active participant in some of that history.

Arimanus was at his table as well. This was the first time Rommie had seen him. Somewhat to her amusement he looked like an ordinary Nietzschean. She had half expected him to have horns, bat wings and be carrying a pitchfork.

At a nod from Judge Arber, Sam, who was acting a bailiff, closed the doors to the gym. The judge banged on the table with an old fashioned gavel.

"This tribunal is now in session," he proclaimed. "Despite the somewhat unusual nature of one of the principals in this case, this trial is solely for the purpose of determining if the principals shall retain custody of their minor child Each side has been alloted one day to present facts and present witness that they feel will bolster their case. There will be a one day hiatus between the statements of the adverse parties. After the final statements have been presented the court will recess while the tribunal weigh the merits of the case and comes to a decision. Should the tribunal have any further questions, require tests, verifications of details of testimony, or testimony by others than the witness presented, all parties will be notified so that they may observe the tests and comment on the testimony of any witnesses summoned by the inquiry. The criminal charges connected with this case, will be held in abeyance until the resolution of the case.

"Counselor Kallam, from the brief you provided the tribunal you indicated you will be not be calling any witnesses. Is that correct?"

At Arimanus' nod of assent the judge continued. "Counselor Basalan, you have indicated you will be presenting three witnesses. Is that correct, and will they be available for testimony the day after tomorrow?"

"Yes, Your Honor. They will be."

"Very well then," said the senior judge. "This court is now in session. Counselor Kallam, you have the floor."


	12. Attack Pt2

"Your honors," began Arimanus,. As has been stated in my brief we are invoking Systems Commonwealth statue AI477.3b subparagraph c, as our basis for declaring the artificial intelligence designated XMC-10-182 unfit to raise an organic child. This law was not written because of prejudice towards artificial intelligences, at the time of the writing of the law artificial intelligences were already valued members of Commonwealth Society. It was written because of a fundamental characteristic of artificial intelligences The fundamental characteristic that they have no childhood and because of that never develop the empathy for others necessary to raise a child. It is this lack of empathy that the was the reason for the law, and the reason that the Office of Public Safety is requesting that the court remove the child from the care of her foster parents. To support my argument and to illustrate the validity of the reasoning behind the law, I intend to show that the defendant's own past actions have demonstrated this lack of empathy and have displayed a lack of judgment and a disregard for life that is callous beyond the bounds of credulity."

"Objection, Your Honor," Balasan sprang up.

A satisfied smile crossed Arimanus' face. He had barely started his opening and the defense was already crying foul.

"You cannot object on an opening statement," the senior judge snapped.

"I beg to differ, Your Honor. We are here to reach a decision about my client's ability to raise a child. That doesn't mean that we are placing her under accusation of any wrong doing and since – as Your Honor stated – any criminal charges will not be immanent to this trial, it is unnecessary to refer to her as the defendant. She is 'the other interested party' and should be addressed by either her military title or as Mrs Hunt. She doesn't have to defend herself against anything – especially not against any previous acts of hers that were instrumental in the making of this Commonwealth of ours which Arimanus is so much committed to."

"Mrs. Hunt," said Arimanus making a show of thoughtfulness. "Your Honors, if my opponent's clients are married as he suggests then they are indeed criminals, since Commonwealth law strictly forbids marriages between artificial intelligences and organics. They are allowed the status of contract mates only."

"Which under Broughton law confers them all rights and privileges of a legal marriage. Including the right to be called Mr and Mrs," retorted Balasan

"Gentlemen!" the senior judge cut in loudly, "before you turn this court of law into a circus, some guidelines. Counselor Balasan, you are in error, this is indeed a trial on character issues and it won't be possible to get through it without reference to the Hunts' life in general as well as their service with the Commonwealth. However, Counselor Kallam, you will not refer to Mrs Hunt as defendant and you will both refrain from any further histrionics. Now carry on, please..."

Balasan sat down. He had gotten at least part of what he wanted. By forcing Arimanus to cease calling Rommie the defendant and instead to call her by either her married name or by her military rank the judges would begin to think of her as a person. Good.

Arimanus looked skyward seemingly recollecting himself for a second, then continuing as if there had been no interruption at all. 

"The formulators of the laws concerning Artificial intelligences realized that there are crucial developmental periods in human children that allow children to develop their personalities and bond with their parents, and later on in life bond with their own children. Without this developmental period an individual will never be able to fully bond with another. The attachment of the mother to the child plays a critical role in this development. Artificial Intelligences are just that, artificial, manufactured constructs. They are born adult, without a mother to bond to, completely bypassing the developmental periods necessary to learn how to bond with others."

"Would an analogy be a child raised by emotionally negligent parents?" asked Arber.

"Very roughly yes," answered Arimanus. "I have provided summaries of research on the subject in the brief I provided the court."

"Are you referring to Kunisch and his attunement theory?" asked Mist.

"That and Frost Flower Growing's work on mammalian mother-baby dyads and how the lack of a proper mother child relationship adversely effects the development of the personality," said Arimanus.

"I would also like to point out to the court that unlike a human woman the defendant, err excuse me, the Warrant Officer has never gone through the transitions of passage that every human child goes through in the process of becoming an adult, rites of passage that help them understand their roles in society. These transitions are emotionally charged, they arelife crisis and require the guidance of an adult to help the child navigate through the passages. How can she help her foster daughter navigate these treacherous waters when she has never navigated them herself?"

Balasan stood up, indicating to the judges that he wished to speak. At the senior judge's nod he began. "Your Honors, the assertion that my client can not help her daughter mature because she has not undergone the expected rites of passage into adulthood is patently ridiculous. She has undergone those trials and more. Your Honors, the vid Star-Crossed that was recently re released is ABOUT my client. It shows her going through those rites of passages that the prosecution says she has never undergone. The rite of finding and losing a love, the rite of undergoing the disapproval of friends and family because they feel your lover is beneath you, and heaven forbid that it should happen to her foster daughter, the rite of learning that the one you love has died in combat. She has gone through those rites and more. She has undergone the rite of being betrayed by the one she loved and the rite of killing the same lover to defend her shipmates. And finally and most importantly she has gone through the rite of finding a strong and lasting love in the person of her husband."

"I'm aware of the vid, Counselor," said Judge Arber dryly. "I saw it when it first came out. I have no desire to see it again. Unlike wines, vids do not improve with age. Continue with your statements, counselor Kallam"

Arimanus gave Basalan a mocking smile "Thank you Counselor," he said, "for bringing up the Balance of Judgement. I was planning to do so but your introduction was much better than what I had planned."

Balasan sat down, acknowledging the point. Next to him, Dylan tried a feeble attempt of a smile when he felt Rommie squeezing his forearm.

"I would like to offer the court some examples of the Warrant Officer's lack of empathy with the species she is now charged with raising a child of." Arimanus had decided that if he was not able to call Rommie 'the defendant' calling her by her military rank was the next best thing as it would imply a propensity for violence that the term Mrs Hunt would not.

"According to publicly available High Guard records, in CY 10087 the Andromeda Ascendant came upon the wreckage of the passenger liner Eckatrina, destroyed by Restorian warships. There was only one survivor, an android who called himself Gabriel. Within days the defendant was asking for permission to leave its ship to marry this android. Days, your Honors, not months or even weeks but days. The first time it meets an attractive member of its own kind it abandons its shipmates and the Commonwealth it had sworn an oath defend. Had it not been for the other android's carelessness and the courage of the Andromeda's organic crew, the defendant would have been enticed into becoming a Restorian itself."

Balasan stood up once more. "Defendant?" he asked.

"Sit down, counselor," ordered Arber to Balasan, "I have ears." Then turning to Arimanus he continued. "Counselor, you were instructed not to refer to the principal of this case as the defendant. I am not in the habit of repeating myself. I do not expect to have to warn you again. Is that clear?"

"Perfectly, Your Honor,"answered the prosecutor. His reference to Rommie as defendant had been a test of the judges. It seemed the senior judge was as tough as his reputation said he was.

"Counselor," queried Mist, "if the Warrant Officer was a human woman would you be telling the court that if a human woman makes a fool over herself because of a bad choice in men she isn't a fit mother? Or are you opposed to the idea of love at first sight? Considering how common both themes seems to be in your vids, entertainment flexies,and books I would think that if you enforced that logic your species would be in danger of extinction."

"It wasn't simply a bad choice Your Honor," argued Arimanus. "She fell for the founder of the Restorians. A killer and a terrorist."

"Why is it," mused Judge Parell, "that the bad boys always seem to be the one to get the girl?"

Seeing that at least two of the judges weren't swallowing his arguments, the prosecutor changed tactics.

"If this was the only rogue Artificial Intelligence the Warrant Officer had associated with it might be excusable, but this is not the case. She was also an associate of Damas during his time as a member of The Society for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligences. An organization which she still has ties to."

"Damas?" queried Mist.

"The android suspected of being the operations officer for The Defenders of Sentient Machines. The one who admits to being responsible for the bombing of the starliner Evening Star. That Damas. There is an image of the two of them together at an SAAI rally in my brief files. "

Arber tapped on the keyboard of his computer bringing up the image. Arimanus gave him a moment to study the picture than continued. "As you can see, Your Honor, the two of them appear quite close. One might even say intimate. The Intersystem Criminal Intelligence branch of the Office of Public Safety suspects that Damas still maintains contacts with members of the SAAI. And who more to keep contact with than a former lover?"

"You dated Damas?" whispered Dylan.

"He was known as Urial then," responded Rommie. Then in a more defensive tone she added. "Besides, it wasn't as if you and I were an item at the time. You had gone back to snogging Molly when I knew him." She looked him in the eyes daring him to disagree. After a moment Dylan shrugged , knowing this was one argument he didn't want to start.

"... Machen Alpha." Arimanus was continuing his argument to the judges "The machine was sent to retrieve militarily important information from a traitor within the Machen Alpha government. When the traitor was unmasked and killed by agents of the legitimate government the machine escaped and later infiltrated the capital city's computer system and attempted to send the nuclear reactor that powered the city into an overload condition which would have resulted in a nuclear explosion that would have killed millions of innocent people."

Arber looked appalled, Mist, as far as Rommie could tell, looked puzzled while Parell looked thoughtful. After a moment Parell leaned over and spoke to the other two judges. "The Basilisk incident," he explained. "The Machen Alpha destruction of Delta Pavonis II and the attempted attack on Mobius. I'll call it up for you." He touched his computer screen and a moment later the other two judges were studying what he called up.

"Are the honorable judges familiar with Operation Fishbait?" asked Arimanus after the judges finished studying the reports on the Mechan Alpha incident. "The High Guard attack on the Pyrian homeworld."

"Are you referring to the Shiva strike on Pyria?" Asked Parell

"Yes!" exclaimed Arimanus. "A Shiva strike. An attack designed to depopulate an entire world and the machine sitting before you was a participant. No, more than a participant for it was commanding the Andromeda Ascendant, the strike fleet's flagship at the time of the strike. It was the one that gave the order to fire."

"Considering that Vice Admiral Lindsey was on the Andromeda's flag bridge commanding the battle group when the attack was launched," interrupted Parell, "I'm sure he would be interested to know that the Mrs. Hunt was the one responsible for the decision to launch the attack. I agree Counselor, Operation Fishbait was not one of the Commonwealth's finest moments, but four solar systems were completely destroyed via nova bombs and 37 other planets were depopulated during the wars, and not all of those systems and planets belonged to our enemies. I am also aware that Mrs Hunt received the Empress' Cross for her actions during the operation, for taking command of the ship after the senior officers on the command deck had been incapacitated by a Pyrian suicide fighter."

Arimanus frowned, coming to the conclusion that his smear tactics weren't working or at least not as well as he would have expected. Or needed to win this case. Arber seemed somewhat sympathetic, Parell, though, appeared almost actively hostile. That left the Than as the swing vote, and she was alien enough for him to fear that his tactics were not going to have much effect on swaying her to his position, and from her comment concerning Gabriel the sway might just as well go towards influencing her opinion against him.. It was time to bring his statement to a close.

"Your Honors, I realize that I have an entire day allocated for my presentation but I think that I have sufficiently presented my Office's points and concerns. The Office of Public Safety rests its case."

"Thank you Counselor, said the senior judge. "Your presentation was quite succinct and informative. Normally, we would recess for one day, then the defense would present its arguments, however I have been informed that bluefish run started today and will be continuing for three more days. Considering the importance of the run to the community I am suggesting that this inquiry goes into recess for one week. Counselors, do either of you have any objections?

"No objection here, Your Honor," answered Balasan.

Arimanus looked as if he was going to object, then a look of calculation came over his face. "I have no objections either, Your Honor." .


	13. Lull  Pt1

**Chapter 6 (Lull )**

The bluefish arrived on schedule with the spring tide. For the next three nights the females would lay their eggs in the sand where they would be fertilized by the males, after which both adult fish would die. A month later during the next spring tide the eggs would hatch, and the baby bluefish would swim back into the ocean.

Cape Breton wasn't a sustenance economy, but neither were the residents awash with cash. Most families had a vegetable garden on their property, and freshly killed game or caught fish regularly graced the dinner tables of most households in the area. A single bluefish wasn't very big but when they came ashore by the thousands they made up in quantity what they lacked in size. Before winter was over the town's children would be complaining at meal time 'What, not bluefish again!'

The bluefish run was an unofficial local holiday. The school was closed so the children could help with the fish harvesting. The harvest was as much a beach party as a fishing expedition with late night bonfires, cookouts, romantic walks on the beach, and, temperature permitting, midnight swims in the ocean, all held under the light of Broughton's largest moon as it shown full over the water.

Andy of course wanted to go to the harvest with her friends. Dylan and Rommie just as naturally wanted her to stay home where she would be under the watchful eyes of her parents, their friends, and two squads of Lancers. Her foster parents finally relented when the Sergeant Major suggested that his Lancers could accompany her to the beach.

"The lads could use some down time themselves, Admiral," he explained, "and I'll make sure that one of them is by her side every minute she's at the fish fry."

Somewhat apprehensively Andy's foster parents agreed to the arrangement. Two days later Rommie found that her apprehensions were justified, but not for reasons she had expected.

It started with a mid morning knock on the door. Rommie was alone in the cottage. Andy was sleeping over at her friend Laura's house after the previous night's fish harvest. Dylan was out conferring with Balasan, who had taken a room at the local boarding house, about the strategy they would use during the defense portion of the trial. Beka, Trance and Dr Jackson had left the cottage to do some early morning shopping, while Harper and Evie had left to see the town's general practitioner about a persistent cough Harper had developed.

Taking a look through the peephole Harper had installed in the cottage door, Rommie spied Sam being escorted by one of the Lancers. He was holding a portion of newspaper in his hand.

"Good Morning, Sam," she said as she opened the door. "What brings you here so early? Harper get himself into some sort of trouble?"

Sam didn't return the smile. "Morning, ma'am," He lifted up the portion of newspaper. "I just received my copy of the Valdor Tribune. It's always a few days out of date by the time we get it over here, but I like to keep in touch with what's happening elsewhere around Broughton. This was the headline in Valdor the day before yesterday." He handed her the segment of newspaper. "I thought you might want to see it before your friend Evie hears about it."

The headline read:

KILLER AVATAR LOOSE IN CAPE BRETON!

The article was dominated by a picture of Evie in her High Guard uniform, the picture had been digitally altered to show her covered in blood. Rommie scanned the article, it was filled with lurid phrases such as "Murderer of the crew of _The Ever Vigilant Eye,_" "Years in the care of cyberpsychologists," "Lately returned for hiding in the Than Hegemony," "Currently residing with a known associate of a member of the Defenders of Sentient Machines." Alongside the segment about 'associate of a member of the Defenders of Sentient Machines' was another picture, the one Arimanus had shown the judges, of Rommie and Damas at the SAAI rally. The image showed the two them standing side by side arms around each other with Damas' hand cupping her breast.

"You don't believe any of this rubbish do you, Sam?" asked Rommie as she handed the paper back to the police officer. "I bet it was leaked by Arimanus in an attempt to influence the judges."

The constable wadded the paper up into a ball. "No, ma'am, I don't believe any of this, nor do I think any of the folks who know you will either. But that's not really the issue. There are a lot of new people in town that have come here to watch or report on the proceedings, and they might believe it. And there's another aspect to this. Someone could be laying the groundwork for something else."

"What do you mean?"

"Suppose there's another attempt to snatch Andy while your friend Evie is guarding her, and she hurts or kills one or more of the abductors. If she does she'll be playing right into Arimanus' hands. She'll be the killer avatar people were warned about, and since you're her friend you'll be one by extension."

"Then what do you suggest, Sam? Have her stay home and let the others take care of escorting Andy."

"Yes, ma'am, that's exactly what I'm suggesting."

Rommie frowned slightly. "Andy's not going to like that very much," she said. "She and Evie are becoming quite close. I guess she feels the need of an older woman to talk to, one who isn't her mother."

"I wouldn't know about that, ma'am. But I don't think she would like putting your friend in a bad spot, and she may not dislike having someone else escort her as much as you think."

"What do you mean?"

For just a moment the constable looked as if he was wondering if he had said to much, then he continued. "My youngest daughter was at the beach last night with some of her friends. She says she saw Andy there, along with that young Lancer of yours, Conners, at one of the bonfires being used by the older children. It seems that Connor's interest in your daughter is more than purely professional. To use my youngest's words 'it looked like they were trying to eat each other's faces.' If he was accompanying her as an escort I don't think Andy would mind the absence of your friend at all."


	14. Lull Pt2

"Well that was interesting," said Dylan as he maneuvered the electric runabout around a horse drawn wagon. "I was wondering what the Sergeant Major was intending to do with two field packs filled with bricks."

"Remind me never to get him really really annoyed at me," said Rommie.

The two of them were returning from a trip to Cape Breton's constable's office. A few hours earlier they had received a phone call from Sam. A pair of the Sergeant Major's Lancers, Niguyen and Langley, had gotten into an altercation with a handful of the local young men in one of the village's pubs. Considering that personnel injuries had been minor, the constable normally would have ignored the entire altercation, and simply insisted that the combatants pay for the damages they caused, except that his deputy had attempted to mediate the dispute and for his efforts to act as peacemaker had been knocked senseless by Langley. Sam could have ignored the property damage, but he couldn't ignore an assault on his deputy. The two Lancers were cooling their heels in the town's single jail cell when Dylan, Rommie and the Sergeant Major, carrying the brick laden backpacks, arrived to bail them out.

Rather than press charges Sam and the Sergeant Major decided on an alternative. The two Lancers were now running laps around the town square wearing the brick filled backpacks, their laps occasionally being interrupted by bouts of push ups with the Sergeant Major and Sam sitting on the backs of the Lancers as they did them.

"I suspect the rest of the unit will get the same idea," agreed Dylan. "And Langley probably learned something about hand to hand combat as well. I guess the nobody ever told him that during the wars the members of the 5307 Composite were known as 'The Marauders'. Speaking of lessons, how do you suggest we discourage Connors from paying attention to Andy? Or should I have the Sargent Major arrange to have the boy transferred to the com station for the duration?"

"You'll do nothing of the sort," said Rommie sharply enough to draw a startled look from Dylan and force him to correct his steering. "Andy's fifteen and, according to the Sergeant Major, Conner's not quite nineteen. If we try to drive them apart we'll only drive them closer together. The best thing we," she stressed the word we, "can do is not to do anything, and trust that we raised her well enough that she'll use good judgment with regard to the boy. The Sergeant Major is aware of the situation, and knows how to do his job. He'll have a talk with Connors about professionalism and handle the situation as a military good order and discipline issue, not a romantic one."

"But she's just a child," objected Dylan. "She's not old enough .. Oops. What's that?"

'That', was a gravcar parked on the street in front of their cottage. The presence of a gravcar in Cape Breton would have been unusual enough, but this one bore High Guard markings as as well.

"Something important must be going down," said Dylan as he parked the runabout and he and Rommie climbed out of it..

The Lancer standing by the door snapped to attention as Dylan and Rommie approached and rendered a salute. Dylan automatically returned the salute even though he was neither in uniform, nor any longer on active duty.

"At ease, Lancer," he said. "Who's our visitor?"

"Commander Heiyu, Sir. She arrived shortly after you and the Warrant Officer departed. We offered to contact you, but she said she's still on Mobius time, and that what she had to tell you could wait until you returned, and that she was going to take a shower, grab a bite to eat and a quick nap."

"I guess we had better find out what's going on then," he said to Rommie. "Carry on Lancer," he told the sentry as he and Rommie stepped inside.

As the sentry had stated, their visitor was indeed Commander Heiyu. There was a feeling of excitement in the air, the commander must have brought good news. She was surrounded by the old crew as well as Dr Jackson, Andy, and Conners. Conners was dressed in civvies, and Dylan noted disapprovingly that his hand was resting on Andy's hip. He glared at the two young people and Connors took his hand off Andy's hip as if it was hot.

When the High Guard intelligence officer saw Dylan and Rommie walk in she broke into a smile, which if it had been any bigger would have split her head in half. "I know the origin of the complaint against you and Rommie," she said, barely waiting for Dylan to close the door behind him. There was a touch of triumph in her voice..

"Who was it" demanded Dylan.

"It came from the Castalian Office of Public Safety."

"Huh?"asked Harper. "Are you saying the Castalian Office of Public Safety is gunning for Dylan and Rommie?"

"The order probably originated somewhere higher up," said Heiyu

"What do you mean, Commander?" asked Andy, who had reattached Connors' hand back to her hip. A maneuver which caused Connors to look somewhat uncomfortable and made Dylan wonder how he could have failed to notice that his foster daughter was fast becoming a grown woman.

"The director of the Commonwealth Office of Public Security has his office on Castalia, Andy, " said Heiyu. "The Castalian director works in the same building as the Commonwealth director." She paused for a meaningful moment then continued. "And the Commonwealth director reports directly to the Triumvirate."

"But why would the Triumvirs be after Dylan and Rommie?" asked Dr Jackson. "I know Trance and I are a bit out of touch with current events, but it doesn't seem very reasonable."

"It's because they're afraid of you," said Evie.

Everyone turned to stare at her. "I know Dylan and Rommie can be pretty scary," said Beka. "But I have a hard time imagining that the Triumvirate is afraid of them."

"Not the Triumvirate," said Evie, "the Core Worlds, and not just Dylan and Rommie, but the Rim Worlds."

By now everyone with the exception of Harper was looking at Evie as if she had suddenly grown another head.

"Having a husband who teaches at a university has some advantages," she explained. "You can learn a lot just by remaining quiet and listening to others talk.

"The Core Worlds have been afraid of the Rim Worlds ever since the General Mutiny. Up to that point the Core worlds had been the biggest fish in the pond. Before the reunification each had dominated their sector of space and the smaller worlds jumped when they said 'frog'. After the reestablishment of the Systems Commonwealth they worked as a group, sometimes bickering among themselves, but always ensuring that no matter what disagreements they had among themselves, the Core Worlds remained the dominant power in the Commonwealth. Then the High Guard mutinied and the equation of power changed. The Rim Worlds were no longer jumping on command. While individually no Rim World was a threat to even one of the Core Worlds, let alone all of them, collectively they were a power to be reckoned with. So the Core Worlds began to take steps to neutralize the Rim Worlds strength.

"The unnecessary wars with the Kalderians and the Pyrians, which served no other purpose than to bleed the Rim Worlds of men and resources, the trade restrictions that make it difficult for the Rim Worlds to improve their infrastructure technological base and force you to import manufactured goods at ridiculously inflated prices, the transformation of the Office of Public Safety into little more than an espionage and secret police organization and placing units of the Civil Guard under their exclusive control, and now the murders of senior Rim World military officers. They're all part of the Core Worlds plan to subjugate the Rim Worlds."

"Uncle Dylan," said Andy, there was a mixture of fear and excitement in her voice, "does this mean that the wars are going to start again?" She moved closer into Conner's arm pulling it around her in a 'protect me' manner, and this time Dylan didn't feel angry, he just felt very very old.

Beka noticed Andy's reaction and attempted to if not change the subject at least lessen the tension, "Ok, assuming the Office of Public Safety trumped up the charges against Dylan and Rommie. Why did Ariminus go through all the effort to make it look like the complaint originated elsewhere."

"Because he's a Nietzschean," said Harper as if that explained it all. "They never come at you straight on if they can stab you in the back. He probably..."

"More likely they wanted us to spend our efforts chasing down a non existent conspiracy while the real one operated undetected virtually in our midst," Heiyu hurriedly interrupted Harper before he could launch into one of his anti Nietzschean tirades. "It might have worked if they had been a bit more patient. It turned out that our Mr Lawson had connections to what's left of the Genites and the Human Supremacy Party. For a while we were concentrating out attention on the Human Supremacy Party, but Vice Admiral Hawking's death was just too much of a coincidence coming after the death of my father and the institution of the charges against Admiral Hunt. After the news of the Vice Admiral's death came out, Argosy Intelligence put the pieces together, and I convinced my superiors in Intelligence that we should start monitoring Arimanus' communications."

"What did they learn?" asked Dylan.

"They monitored a conversation between Arimanus and someone else. The other individual was demanding to know to use his words 'why haven't you carried out your assignment.' But it was Arimanus' response which was the prize. He said 'I don't just want them dead, I want them broken and humiliated. I'm going to destroy them before I have them eliminated.'"

"He is so dead ," murmured Beka. "He is so dead."

"No," said Heiyu, her tone of voice indicating that the 'No' was an order and not a request.. "Other plans are in progress, but it's going to take some time to put them into play. Admiral, I'm afraid you and your family are going to be going back to court."


	15. Counterattack Pt1

_**Chapter 7(Counter Attack)**_

__The bluefish run was over, it was time for the defense to present their arguments to the judges. Dylan, Rommie, Andy and the counselor, escorted by the Sergeant Major and his Lancers, once more walked up the steps to the gymnasium. The crowds were bigger than a week ago. A rumor had begun circulating that Balasan had information that would destroy Arimanus' case and they were eager to see the O.P.S. taken down.

The anti AI backlash that Sam had feared had never materialized among the residents of Cape Breton, Though there were several 'spontaneous' anti AI demonstrations in Valdor and Port Alberni, Broughton's second largest city. One of the demonstrations in Port Alberni turned into a small riot with the demonstrators breaking into and looting stores in the city. The riot was quickly quelled by the local police, supported by members of the Home Guard, with numerous rioters being arrested. The arrestees turned out to be almost exclusively members of one of the local gangs that plagued the port's waterfront, one that had a reputation for being muscle for hire. With the exception of the one riot the other demonstrations failed to attract large numbers of participants and being relatively peaceful garnered little attention from the media. In Cape Breton itself the newspaper article that so concerned Sam was considered interesting only as fish wrap.

As Rommie and her family took their seats at the defense's table she spared a moment to look around her. The judges were once again already seated, with Arber still looking as if he had eaten something that was giving him indigestion. Arimanus was looking somewhat agitated, unlike a week ago when he had been conducting his prosecution by slander. Rommie wondered if the mysterious voice that Heiyu had mentioned was putting pressure on the prosecutor, or if he had heard the rumors about Balasan's bombshell. The counselor looked even more unhappy when Sam escorted Evie to the spectator's section of the improvised courtroom. He had linked his arm with her as they pointedly walked in front of the prosecutor's table. The message was loud and clear. The town wasn't buying what the Commonwealth was selling.

As soon as Judge Arber banged his gavel on the table indicating the start of the session, Balasan approached the judges' table. "Your honors," he began. "The Commonwealth has claimed that since Mrs Hunt is an AI she can not be capable of raising a child since she had no childhood of her own, and that allowing her to continue to raise the child who is the center of this trial will endanger said child. The representative for the Commonwealth has attempted to buttress his argument that my client is dangerous by giving examples which he says illustrates her propensity towards violence and ill considered actions. As I stated in my pretrial brief I intend to prove that the argument the law is based on is fallacious, but I would first like to address the argument that my client's past actions demonstrate her unfitness to raise a child."

The senior judge nodded his head "Continue, Counselor," he said.

"Every one of the Commonwealth's arguments concerning her alleged violent tendencies comes from the time when my client was actively serving in the High Guard as ship's avatar and acting in the line of duty. Your honors, the purpose of the High Guard is to use their own words, 'to kill people and break things'. We, the Commonwealth, equip and pay them so that they might do just that at our orders. They are the Commonwealth's sword and shield. When they do well at their mission we reward them with promotions and medals. For the Commonwealth to argue that an act for which my client received the Commonwealth's highest medal of valor proves that she is unfit to raise a child is ludicrous. It implies that all members of the military, and by extension the government that they serve, are incapable of raising children.

"The Commonwealth has not only failed to show any evidence that my client's behavior since she left active service has been in anyway suggestive that she would be a danger to the child, but admits that local constabulary refused to force my clients to give up their foster child, stating that they felt the child would be safer with her foster parents than with strangers.

"The arguments that my client has terrorist associations are patently absurd. Granted she may not have shown good judgment in her choice in lovers, but if every woman who was seduced then betrayed by a rogue was deemed unfit to raise children, there would be very few children to raise. Though her handling of the situation after her betrayal might give pause to other men of that type. Calling the SAAI a criminal terrorist organization is an affront to criminals. If SAAI has committed a crime it is, given their their lack of lobbying effectiveness, that they charge their members dues. At their peak they numbered perhaps 5 million members spread over the three galaxies To say that my client associated with terrorists because she was a member of the organization when the Defenders of Sentient Machines split off from the SAAI makes as much sense as declaring an entire planet outlaw because one of their citizens breaks a law on another planet."

Balasan paused to take a breath and during the moment of silence the senior judge interrupted. "Your point is taken, Counselor, and we agree that the Commonwealth's arguments in these regards are weak. But the issue here is not if a member of the military is fit to raise a child, nor is it your client's choice in lovers, but rather if an artificial intelligence is capable of raising a child."

"Yes, Your Honor," replied Balasan. "And as I stated in my brief I intend to demonstrate that the presumption that the law is based on, namely that an AI can not be trusted to raise an organic child because AI's are created as adults and thus do not have childhoods is in error."

"You're planning to prove that machines have childhoods?" asked Mist on Still Water

"Not machines, Your Honor, Artificial Intelligences."

"This should be interesting at the very least," said Arber, skepticism evident in his voice. "Go ahead."

"Thank you," responded the advocate. "However I first would like to address the concept that avatars are non organic. I would like to call Seamus Zelazney Harper to the chair."

As Harper took the seat, Arimanus glared at him. Harper returned the glare and made a rude gesture as well, much to the amusement of the visitors watching the proceedings and prompting the senior judge to call for order.

Once Harper was seated Balasan began his questioning.

"Mr Harper," he began. "You were the chief engineer on the Andromeda Ascendant were you not? Not only that but you were the one who constructed the body of the ships avatar, am I correct."

At Harper's assent Balasan continued. "Now is there anything unique about this avatar?"

"Depends on what you mean by unique," said Harper. "You have to admit that she's one of the most beautiful babes around." Noticing Evie's glare he quickly added. "Excluding my wife of course."

"That was an excellent recovery, Mr Harper," said Balasan which elected several chuckles from the reporters covering the trial and a snort from Judge Parell, "but back to the subject. I was talking about the construction of her body. Mr Harper, is there anything unique about that?"

"Not really," responded Andromeda's chief engineer. "Avatar bodies whether they are military or civilian are constructed pretty much the same way."

"Describe the construction of say their skin," prompted the advocate.

"It's the same as the substitute skin used to provide skin grafts for burn victims. It's really human skin, but genetically modified so it wont produce an immune system reaction."

"I see, and if this is essentially human skin then it will need to be nourished and will need oxygen will it not? How is that accomplished?"

"Nourishment and oxygen are provide through a nourishment fluid similar to human blood. The fluid is pumped through her skin by a heart lung device used on some planets that don't use organ regeneration as a replacement for damaged hearts and lungs. Combat cyborgs often have these inserted in place of their original organs as it is doesn't have the limitations their original organs would have."

"So they breathe and their hearts beat. Tell me, Mr Harper, where does the nourishment that their skin need come from?"

"Generally they drink a glucose based compound that supplies the nourishment their skin needs, but in a pinch they can eat just about any food a normal human can. They just can't eat as much at any one sitting."

"The, shall we call it digestive system, it is also used as a replacement for digestive systems on worlds that don't use regeneration, as are their eyes am I not correct?" At Harpers nod of assent the advocate continued. "The muscular system, the same as used in combat cyborgs?" Once again Harper answered in the affirmative. "And their nerves, the same as used in nerve grafts in organic beings, correct? Tell me, Mr Harper, if you took a normal human being and replaced his organs with the components of an avatar wouldn't we call that person a cyborg?"

At this point Arimanus stood up. "Your honors," he said after receiving permission to speak. "My opponent is simply trying to confuse the issue. The case before you does not concern the construction of avatars and other androids but their minds, their souls. Whether they are created out or metal or organic parts is completely irrelevant."

"Your point is taken, Counselor," responded Arber. "Counselor Balasan, while I am sure that my colleague Mist on Still Water would be happy to spend hours listening to this discussion, it is not relevant to the case. Please confine your presentation to facts relevant to the case."

Completely unfazed by the admonition Balasan continued. "Ah, yes, this case does indeed concern the soul, and so for my next witness I would like to call Miss Veronica Morgan before you."

There was stunned silence in the courtroom as Rommie stood up and walked towards the witness stand.


	16. Counterattack Pt2

"Is this some sort of joke?" demanded Arimanus. "This is not a woman This is an artificial intelligence, a machine. AI model GRA 112, serial number XMC-10-182 built by the Shining Path to Truth and Knowledge Institute on Sparborth IV to be exact."

Completely nonplussed by her persecutor's outburst. Rommie waited until he ran out of breath and then began to speak.

"That is the name I go by now. However, the name I was given at my birth was Veronica Morgan, to use your linage terminology, Counselor," she accented the word counselor in such a way as to make it sound insulting, "out of Larisa by Victor."

The senior judge raised a hand forestalling Arimanus' outburst. "Are you telling the tribunal that you are a normal human?" he asked Rommie.

"I was, once. May I explain?"

"Please do," said Judge Parell.

"Thank you. To answer your question, your Honor, I was born on the planet Botany Bay in CY 9749 the second of four children.. My parents were Larisa and Victor Morgan, respectively a computer repair technician and history professor at the Wollongong branch of the Botnay Bay University. Upon graduation from secondary school I followed my elder sister's footsteps and applied for, and was accepted, for a position as a laboratory technician with the Shining Path for Truth and Knowledge neurotechnology research institute in Devenport. On the 18th of Sessan CY 9770 my elder sister and I were on holiday hiking with our boyfriends in the Blue Mountains forty two kilometers from the main spaceport in Hobart."

"Is there something special about that date we should know about?" queried the senior judge.

"It's the date of the Eckard incident," answered Rommie. Seeing the puzzled expressions of the faces of the judges she clarified. "The Eckard was a a transport owned by Tri Galaxy shipping. . On the 18th of Sessan 2019 local time a low orbital cargo transfer craft carrying 25,000 tons of liquid fertilizer bound for Ekinidu lifted off from the Hobart spaceport to rendezvous with the Eckard . Telemetry received by the Ekaard indicates that approximately 12 seconds after liftoff there was an explosion in the hold containing the fertilizer. The explosion was the equivalent of a 17 kiloton nuclear weapon going off."

From where Harper was sitting he could see Mist on Still Water keying something into her computer system. He assumed that she was checking historical records of the incident.

"Forty two kilometers," mused Parell. "That would have kept you far out of blast range, not even considering that you were protected by the mountains themselves."

"It wasn't the explosion that caused the majority of the casualties," said Rommie. "The explosion generated sufficient heat to cause the nitrogen in the fertilizer to combine with the oxygen in the atmosphere resulting in the creation of a cloud of nitrogen dioxide. We were down wind of the explosion and on foot. We decided that the best thing we could do was to to go back to the institute at Davenport.. We hiked back to the town where we had left our vehicle through a cloud of nitrogen dioxide. We had been protected from the explosion but not from the toxic gas produced by it. We didn't know it at the time, but by the time we reached our vehicle we were already dead. Our bodies just hadn't noticed it yet. When we arrived at the Institute we were given a physical by the staff and informed that we had all received lethal exposures of nitrogen dioxide. The medical facilities that could have saved our lives were already overwhelmed by victims of the explosion."

"Then how is it that you are presently standing before us if you had received a lethal dose of poison?" queried Arber

"If you recall," said Rommie, "my sister and I worked for a neurotechnology research institute. As lab technicians my sister and I were often used as test subjects. The researchers at the institute knew more about our minds and how they functioned than we did. They offered us an alternative to certain death There was a slight, very slight, chance that they could transfer our personalities into a computer matrix. That we could become electronic intelligences. My sister and I both agreed. Some few hours later I was in the transfer laboratory. I was sedated and when I awoke it was CY 9772 and I was AI model GRA 112, serial number XMC-10-182. I later found that my sister's personality had also been successfully transferred."

"This is preposterous," sputtered Arimanus this time not waiting for permission to speak. "Why should we believe you? You have everything to gain by lying, and since you are mechanical our verification system can't determine if you are telling the truth. It seems quite convenient that the person you are claiming to be has been dead for roughly 300 years. It will be rather hard to verify your story, don't you think."

"Actually, Counselor," said Mist. "Her story does check out. Ironically enough while many of their technical databases were destroyed during the rebellion, the Shining Path to Truth and Knowledge Institute's personnel records survived the war quite nicely. Your adversary persuaded the Institute's El Dorado Drift branch to transfer a copy of them to our data banks when he requested one of their scientists to appear as a witness. There was a Veronica Morgan who was employed by the Institute on Botany Bay at the time of the incident, but according to the records she died as a result of nitrogen dioxide poisoning. Would you care to elaborate on this seeming contradiction Miss..."

"If you don't mind Your Honor," interjected Balasan, "my next witness might be better qualified to explain the disparity"

"Very well then," said the senior judge. Call your next witness.

While the discussion had been going on between the prosecutor and the judges Beka had been reviewing Rommie's testimony.

"By the Great Divine, please let me be wrong," she whispered to herself.

"What do you mean Beka?" asked Andy. She had ignored Dylan's suggestion to go easy on the coffee that morning at breakfast, and as a result had had to leave the defense table to use the bathroom. When she had returned Sam had indicated to her that she was to sit in the spectator section beside Beka "Wrong about what?"

"It was before you were born Andy," answered Beka "When we encountered the Pax Megallanic.. Rommie referred to her as her sister and was distraught that Jill, as she called herself, didn't recognize her. At the time I thought she was speaking metaphorically but now I think she was speaking the literal truth"

"I don't understand," said Andy. "Did something happen between them?"

"I think," said Beka "that your foster mother killed her own sister."


	17. Counterattack Pt3

While Beka had been recovering from the shock of the prospect that Rommie might be guilty of fratricide the next witness had taken the stand. From his grey skin and prominent chin Beka identified him as a Perseid.

"...Senior Scientist Tamenot currently employed as a a cyberpsychologist at the El Dorado Drift branch of the Shining Path to Truth and Knowledge Institute."

"And as a cyberpsychologist you are an expert on the personality transfer process?" asked Balasan.

Tamenot gave his species equivalent of a shrug. "Expert, no, but I am as much of an expert in the process as you will find. As a requirement of my profession I have studied all the available literature on the process that survived the rebellion.

"In response to your question, Your Honor, about Ms Morgan's death, she was listed as dying because the personality transfer process kills the original possessor of the personality. Ms Morgans body would have ceased to function even as her personality was being transferred."

"Personality transfer. Are you saying," demanded Mist, "that the Old Commonwealth had the secret of immortality and kept it a secret." There was a buzz of conversation among the observers in the court at Mist's words.

"Yes and no," answered Tamenot. "First you must understand that very very few people have minds organized in such a way that they could function as an artificial intelligence. At best it would have been less than one in a million individuals. Secondly the transfer process required an individual with an unusual combination of both genetic and personality traits to have any chance of succeeding, and among those that were possible candidates the majority of transfers still failed. According to our records the success rate was only 1.438 percent. Then there was one other significant problem."

"Explain," ordered Mist

The Perseid cleared his throat and continued speaking. "The personality transference process is extremely traumatic. In the majority of cases the transferred personality when reawakened in its host system suffers from what can best be described as dissociative fugue."

There was a stir of movement from the judges' dais as the judges inquired from their computer systems what the term meant. "Do you mean to tell me that the memories of the volunteer are destroyed in the transfer?" asked Arber. 'Wouldn't that have a rather severe effect on the new personality? Might it not become someone totally different than the original volunteer?"

"Not really," responded Tamenot. "While the memories may be gone the basic personality of the subject remains intact, if the subject originally enjoyed eating fermented Vedran cabbage rolls and disliked Chichin neo- classical poetry the transferred personality would share the same likes and dislikes. A sarcastic obnoxious personality would transfer as a sarcastic obnoxious personality while a friendly helpful one would transfer as friendly and helpful. Additionally the organizations that performed this procedure prior to the fall took pains to endure that the transferred personality had access to information concerning it's past life. While their memories of their life may have been destroyed they did know who they had been."

Arimanus indicated that he had a question and at the nod from the senior judge confronted the cyberpsychologist. "Tell me Senior, Scientist. The transferred personality is in effect a computer program residing in a quantum computer located within the artificial shell of the machine. If it's a computer program it can be altered. Or are you going to tell us that there is no way of altering the programming and thus the personality of the machine?"

"Yes, the personality could be reprogrammed so to speak," admitted Tamenot. A smile of satisfaction crossed Arimanus' face only to be vanish at the Perseid's next words. "But given time and access to my lab I could reprogram you into thinking you were a five year old girl with pigtails. And I could do it in less time than it would take to reprogram an artificial intelligence's personality. There are drugs I could use on you I couldn't use on an inorganic intelligence. Trying to electronically reprogram an inorganic intelligences' personality simply destroys the intelligences engram." Seeing the puzzled look on several of the spectators faces he clarified. "It kills them."

"How can you kill what has never been alive?" retorted Arimanus.

"Careful prosecutor," cautioned Balasan. " I don't think you would look very good in a dress and pigtails."

Judge Parell waited until the laughter died down then asked. "Mrs Hunt, am I correct in my understanding that you are actually a copy of the original Veronica Morgan personality, and that the original is the one serving aboard the High Guard cruiser Andromeda Ascendant as it's command and control entity?"

"That is correct, Your Honor," answered Rommie, "I am a copy, but you must remember that after I was born so to speak my experiences became different from hers, and we are separate individuals. It might be best to think of us as telepathic twins."

"Thank you," said the judge. "Senior Scientist Tamenot, You stated that with time and effort an artificial intelligence's personality could be altered. What's to prevent an unscrupulous person or organization from, shall we say brainwashing, an AI so that she or he became a wanton sex slave or homicidal killer and then create multitudes of copies of the new personality?"

"Actually nothing, but considering the expense of creating the android body, and the relative difficulty to alter a AI's personality it would be quicker and cheaper to simply kidnap and program organic beings to become what you wanted. It really is quite difficult to alter an AI's personality."

"He should know," hissed Evie."If it hadn't been for Harper I might have killed all of you on Sarvong's Anvil." If looks could kill, the look she was giving Tamenot would have not only killed him but his entire lineage.

"I find the possibility of mass producing slaves programmed to accept their servitude the most disturbing part of this entire proceeding," said Parell. "I sincerely hope that you can tell me that the technique for personality transfer process was lost during the rebellion."

Once again the Perseid gave his species equivalent of a shrug. "The majority of my work as a cyberpsychologist has been with pre fall artificial intelligences, but I have worked with some whom I am sure were created post fall."

Parell turned to the senior judge and spoke softly to him. Rommie's ears were sensitive enough to pick up the conversation. "This needs to be looked into," said Parell.

The senior judge nodded his agreement then turned to Rommie. "Please approach the table." When Rommie was standing before the senior judge he continued. "I have just one question. Warrant Officer Andromeda Ascendant, who are you?"

Rommie stopped and a thoughtful look crossed her face. Then after a moment a smile replace the look of thoughtfulness. "I was Veronica Morgan, but I am no longer that girl. Later I became a warship of the High Guard, but I'm no longer that either."

"Then who are you?" prompted the judge.

Rommie gestured to her friends and neighbors in the courtroom "Friend, comrade in arms and neighbor to some, unfriend to others," she used he chin to indicate Arimanus as she said unfriend, "warrior, soldier and protector when need be. " She walked over to where Dylan was sitting and added, 'companion, lover and helpmate to this man and," she continued walking and placed an arm protectively around Andy, sitting in the spectator's section as she finished her description, "mother to my foster daughter." As she finished her reply she walked back to stand before the judges to await their response.

"Thank you Warrant Officer," said the judge. Then to the courtroom in general he added. "At this point Court will be adjourned until the judges have reached a verdict on the case. Given the evidence that has been presented to the Court, and on the recommendation of counselor Balasan, I am ordering that the child Andromeda Rihan Lincoln be placed in the care of constable Samuel Winters and his family until a verdict had been reached. Court is recessed until further notice."


	18. Counterattack Pt4

"You Judas," said Rommie to Balasan in a tone of voice that caused Dylan to move between her and the counselor. "We trusted you and you betrayed us. Dylan, say something," entreated Rommie to Dylan

" The counselor discussed this with Sam and me during the bluefish run," said Dylan calmly, seemingly unmoved by the judges announcement, "and he suggested it to the judges. It should effectively forestall any further attempts on Andy by the O.P.S. They can hardly object if she is in the care of the town's constable.

"But more importantly Sam lives a ways out from town. If we're the target of an assassination attempt like Commander Heiyu suspects happened to Admirals Hawking and Tanaka I don't want her to be any where near us when it goes down."

"And the three of you didn't see fit to include Andy and me in the discussion?" asked Rommie indignation replacing anger. She gestured towards Andy who was being comforted by Beka and Evie. "You had better not say that it was because you didn't want to worry us."

"Right now," said Dylan deliberately avoiding answering Rommie's question about why the men hadn't included her and Andy in on the decision to have Andy stay with the constable, "I really think Andy might be safer there than with us. Sam's oldest boys and their families will be coming over to stay with Sam as well. The boys all served tours of duty in Home Guard ground defense units. I'll have the Sergeant Major detach some of his men to stay with her as well."

"What else aren't you telling me, Dylan?" asked Rommie in a tone of voice that clearly indicated that she and Dylan were going to have a long and one sided discussion when they got home.

"A High Guard courier ship arrived in system last night," said Dylan suddenly realizing that with the extra guests in the cottage the couch and the cots were occupied, and that he might be spending the next few nights sleeping outside with the Sergeant Major's men. "The Sergeant Major gave me a report while you were overseeing breakfast."

"And?" Rommie's voice made Broughton's glacier fields seem warm by comparison

"Among the messages it transmitted to the com station was that the news stations on Castalia are broadcasting that the Office of the Conclave on Diphda V was burnt to the ground. According to the Castalia press the Office of Public Safety has determined that the fire was set by members of the Defenders of Sentient Machines assisted by immigrants from Bathsheba and Fenree."

"That's ridiculous!" exclaimed Rommie. "The Defenders of Sentient Machines would never work with organics. They even refuse to acknowledge their own organic origins."

"Maybe," said Dylan pleased to be able to divert the conversation, "but politics makes for stranger alliances. The Castalian news stations are also stating that there was an assassination attempt on the Castalian President, and that that the attempt was carried out by Rim Worlders. There were also a message from High Guard Intelligence reporting that the Nietzschean Unified Pride space forces are going on modified alert status and another that all Rim World Civil Guard units that are under the direct command of the O.P.S. have been ordered to mobilize."

"That doesn't sound good at all," said Balasan who up to this moment had been listening quietly, thankful that his mistress had a docile personality . As he spoke he waved to Evie and Andy indicating that they should join Dylan and Rommie.

"It's more serious than that counselor," said Dylan. "The commanding officer of the High Guard base on Mobius impounded two Halcyon Home Guard destroyers that were in the Mobius shipyards undergoing repairs and has interned their crews. He has canceled leave for all Argosy and Lancer personnel under his command and has issued a general recall of all those on leave off planet.. In response to the impounding the Triumvirate has ordered a total trade embargo against Mobius. The Fenree government has stated that they will refuse to honor the embargo and will consider any attempts to interfere with their trade with Mobius as acts of war. I expect that the Broughton Home Guard will be calling up their reserves, if they haven't already begun so. We can also be expect the arrival of some guests. The drop ship carrier Forged in Flame will be arriving within a few days. They will be dropping of a battalion of Lancers and a squadron of Ung Tae's. It appears that things are very rapidly spinning out of control."


	19. Ashes of Victory Pt1

**Chapter 8 (The Ashes of Victory)**

"The court is in session," announced Judge Arber, "and has reached a decision. The defense and the prosecution will come forward to hear the verdict."

The gymnasium was completely packed, all the seats were taken and any areas where there was enough room for a person to stand had an person standing there. The floor was completely covered with vid teams leaving barely enough room for the defense and prosecution's tables. .It had actually been necessary for the Lancers escorting Rommie and her family to form a human wedge and force a path through the crowd to the center of the gymnasium.

The tension in the improvised courtroom was thick enough to cut with a knife. The story of the deaths of Admirals Tanaka and Hawking had become public as had the report of the attempted assassination of the President of Castalia. The news of the two Admiral's deaths had been greeted by the majority of Broughton's citizens with anger while news of the assassination attempt was greeted by a feeling of 'pity it didn't succeed.' Andy's stay with Sam and his family had lasted less than two weeks before the constable's sons were recalled to active duty by the Home Guard and she had been sent back to her foster parents. All Civil Guard units not under control of the O.P.S, and by extension the triumverate, had been ordered to incorporate themselves with the Home Guard, not all the units complied and had allied themselves with the O.P.S. Even worse some Home Guard units had sided with the O.P.S. Broughton was a a pile of tinder waiting for someone to drop a match.

Balasan, Dylan, Rommie and Andy stepped forward. Balasan and Andy looking confidant Rommie and Dylan not so. Rommie had her arm wrapped protectively around her foster daughter's shoulders.

There was a new face at the prosecution's table. Arimanus was missing and a harried looking human woman was sitting at the table looking very much as if she would rather be anywhere but where she was. The woman representing the prosecution stepped forward, her eyes downcast. " is currently indisposed, Your Honors," she said.

"I suspect in hiding would be a more accurate term," growled the senior judge. "I've seen the arrest warrants. Including the ones issued off planet against other members of the Office of Public Safety. Attempted kidnapping, murder, and conspiracy to commit murder among other charges. The O. P. S. seems to have some odd ideas about who they are supposed to be keeping safe, and from whom. Unfortunately Counselor Kallam was able to avoid the sweep, but I expect that between local law enforcement and loyal units of the Civil Guard he will be apprehended shortly."

"Your Honor," said the new prosecutor, " in light of the recent events, the prosecution would like to drop the case against the Hunts."

"Permission denied," said Arber drawing startled looks from both the prosecutor and the defense. "The issue here is not if Mrs. Hunt is a fit mother but if an artificial intelligence can raise an organic child. Allowing you to drop the case would not resolve the issue. Therefore..."

"The verdict Your Honor," prompted Balasan, earning a glare from the senior judge.

"The court finds for the defense," announced Judge Arber still glaring at Balasan "While it has grave concerns about the process involved and the implications of the existence of the personality transfer process, these doubts are confined to the process itself, not the individuals whose personalities have been transferred. The court decrees that Mrs Hunt is fit to raise her foster child and that the law prohibiting artificial intelligences for raising organic children will be stricken from the books."

Anything else the judge might have said was lost in the cheering as the crowd came forward to congratulate Rommie and her family. Harper, Beka, Evie, Trance, and Dr Jackson pushed through the crowd to join their friends as the Sergeant Major and Sam, assisted by the Sergeant Major's Lancers, began to escort Romme and her friends and family through the crowd, out the door and into the street.

As they left the gym surrounded by their phalanx of Lancers, who now had the task of keeping their charges from being crushed by a horde of vid reporters and well wishers, Trance noted something odd about one of the vid news vans parked across the street. While the other vans had crews surrounding them this one was deserted. It seemed oddly out of place. The instincts she had developed during her years of fighting alongside both Commonwealth and Stargate soldiers and her own unique perceptive abilities kicked into overdrive. She shouted out for all to hear. "Get down! The van, it's a bomb." She was a second too late.

It was the crowd of reporters and onlookers that saved them. The crowd and the Lancers, who on hearing Trance's warning threw themselves onto their charges shielding them with their own bodies.

The newsvid van had been packed with a directional explosive, the explosives arranged so that the majority of the blast was focused towards the gymnasium steps and whoever was on the steps when it detonated. In addition to the explosives the van was filled with flechettes which were propelled by the force of the explosion towards the gym. The shockwave and the cloud of darts it hurled tore through the crowd, shredding the milling throng into globs of meat. But in their dying the crowd absorbed some of the force of the blast and many of the flechettes. They damped the force of the explosion, damped but didn't stop it. Rommie felt the blast wave hit her like a giant hammer knocking her to the ground while the Lancer who was protecting her with his own flesh gasped, convulsed, and was still.

There was a moment of stunned silence then the screams of the maimed and dying filled the air. Rommie pushed aside the Lancer who had shielded her. He rolled over to on his back to stare at her with lifeless eyes. As she looked around she saw Evie and Trance beginning to stir, but before she could do or say anything she spied over a score of armed men running in her direction, apparently intent of finishing the job the bomb had started. Among the men she spied Arimanus carrying an assault riffle.

Balasan had only been partially correct wen he stated that an android was the equivalent of a human cyborg. A normal android was only marginally faster and hardier than a human but Rommie wasn't an ordinary android, she was the the avatar of a warship. Rommie was unarmed, but she didn't need to carry a weapon. She was built to be a weapon. She rushed towards her attackers moving so rapidly and evasively that they were unable to aim their weapons accurately. As she sped forward she saw from the corner of her eyes that Trance and Evie were right behind her.

If any of the attackers had had a classical education they would have sworn that they were no longer facing three women, but tormentors sent by the gods. Their faces twisted in rictuses of rage, their clothing torn and covered with the blood of friends and family Rommie, Trance, and Evie were the Furies incarnate

Trance reached out and touched one of the armed men. His features twisted into an expression of agony as smoke began to issue from his mouth and then he burst into flame. Rommie grasped the head of one of the attackers between her hands and squeezed, crushing his skull as if it were a rotten grape. Evie struck the attacker nearest to her in his chest, her hand exited through his back clutching his still beating heart.

The attackers were brave men, all of them combat tested veterans, but but they had never faced opponents such as those they faced now. As they saw their comrades being literally ripped limb from limb or incinerated with a touch, while their weapons had absolutely no effect on their enemies, their nerve broke and they began to flee for their lives. Their attempt at flight was futile They were all run down and slaughtered before they could make good their escape.

It was Trance who cornered Arimanus, but before she could immolate him she was stopped by Rommie who was nearby breaking another of her assailants over her knee. "Wait," she said over the comm link all the old Andromeda crew shared. "Save him until Evie and I are through."

Within a few minutes Rommie and Evie joined Trance. The street was becoming a frantic scene of activity as rescue teams began to arrive at the scene, but the three women ignored the rescuers, focusing their attention on the man who had done so much damage.

Seeing the look an the womens' faces, Arimanus began to whimper in terror. Rommie abruptly bent down and grasped her persecutor by one of his ankles and stood up so that the Nietzschean was dangling head down in her grasp.

"Take his other ankle, Evie, and get a good grip." instructed Rommie. With the prosecutor hanging head down between them Rommie turned her attention to Arimanus.

"Make a wish," she told him and then both she and Evie pulled.


	20. Ashes of Victory Pt2

Dylan was at his desk studying the latest intelligence summaries and situation reports. What he was reading did not put him in a good mood. One of the O. P. S Civil Guard armoured infantry battalions had entrenched itself around the Lajoie dam southeast of Valdor. From their position they were not only able to threaten the capital, they were in effect holding the dam and much of the surrounding area hostage. The Home Guard forces defending the capital were sufficient to protect the city but they were forces Dylan was going to need when he ordered the push against the O. P. S. Forces occupying Port Alberni and as long as the O. P. S. battalion in position to threaten Valdor the troops defending the capital were pinned down there, as thoroughly removed from use against Port Alberni as if they were dead.

Orbital bombardment could have destroyed the battalion in a matter of minutes but it would also destroy the dam, with catastrophic results to Broughton's economy. Not only was the dam one of the primary sources of electric power for the continent, but the flooding caused by its destruction would inundate Valdor and several smaller towns and cities. The flood waters would also destroy much of the vineyards that grew the grapes that provided the raw materials for the brandy that was the planet's most profitable off world export.

Unfortunately none of his other options were much better. He could besiege the battalion, keeping them penned up until they ran out of food, a situation which would tie up even more more troops and force him to either delay the assault on Port Alberni, giving the O. P. S. forces more time to prepare their defensive positions, or order the attack on the port with far fewer troops than he felt sufficient for the operation. His other option was to order a direct assault on the position, accept the undoubtedly heavy casualties. and risk the chance that the defenders would destroy the dam anyway.

His deliberations were interrupted by a knock at the door. "Enter" he ordered.

A Lancer with sergeant's chevrons on his sleeve stepped into the room, snapped to attention and saluted smartly. "Message for you, sir. From the com station." He held out a flexie for Dylan to take.

Dylan took the flexie entered his identification code and scanned the subject line . "Thank you, Sergeant. You're dismissed."

The sergeant gave another perfectly executed salute, performed a textbook about face and walked out of the room closing the door behind him. Dylan finished reading the message then arose from his desk and went out in search of Rommie. He found her in the garden staring into the distance. She had been spending a great deal of time in the garden since the end of the trial. Coming up behind her he put hands on her shoulders.

"It's over, Rommie," Dylan murmured as he nuzzled her hair. "The Core Worlds have accepted our independence. Courier ships are on the way from Castalia to all the Rim Worlds with orders for all Core World forces and their allies to stand down. The Than Hegemony declaring that they would intervene militarily on our side if hostilities didn't cease was too much for the Triumvirate."

After a moment Rommie turned and buried her face into his chest. He could feel the wetness of her tears as they soaked through his shirt."Was it worth it Dylan?" she asked her face still buried in his chest. "So many or our friends and neighbors dead or injured. Dr Jackson may never see again, Evie lost her baby, Sam, the Sergeant Major. I didn't have to push the issue, I could have fought a delaying action like Dr Jackson suggested until Andy turned eighteen then none of this would have happened."

"It wouldn't have made any difference Rommie," said Dylan stroking the back of her head as he held her against him. "The Core Worlds leadership and the Triumvirate had made up their minds to move against the Rim Worlds. All we did was move up their time table by a few months.

"When Harper was stationed aboard you he once recited a quote to me. I don't remember whom he ascribed it to, but I remember the quote quite well. He told me 'The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.' This was our time, Rommie, and because of the blood we and our neighbors shed others won't have to shed theirs."

Rommie looked up, her eyes were still wet but the tears had stopped. "Lets go back inside Dylan," she said.

"Huh?" grunted Dylan taken off balance by the sudden change of topic.

"I want to make love to you," she said. "And then I'm going to contact Harper and arrange for an artificial womb to be installed in me."

Together the two walked back to the cottage and away from the grave occupying a corner of the garden.

_End_


End file.
